The Puzzle Game
by anacsadder
Summary: A pending law threatens Static and Gear's secret identities; a vengeful villain hides a sinister vendetta; Frieda's world is turned upside down and inside out...
1. Escape

The Puzzle Game

**tes·ser·act** n. 1) the four-dimensional analogue of a cube; 2) a box bigger on the inside than on the outside; 3) doorway that allows one to travel thousands of miles in less than a second

FATR: My attention span sucks! Sigh. All well... This is just a short intro, you know, to test the water. Also, this is your chance to influence what characters are used. Frieda pretty much has to be included, and Ebon, but who do you, the reader, want to make up Ebon's gang? Any input that is offered will be taken into serious, serious consideration. This I promise you. Seriously. I want your opinions. This is an open ended story right now. Influence while you can, but keep in mind I own next to nothing. I only partially own the keyboard and computer I'm composing this on, for crying out loud! Do you really think I own Static Shock? Thought so, I know you're smarter than that. I also reserve the right to change the rating if it should seem fitting. Now, without further delay, on with the chip chiplet...

X)O(X

Her breath clouded the frosty air in front of her face. There were little white ice crystals dancing across the leaves of the bush she hid behind. Trembling, almost blue fingers pulled the strings of her oversized black hoodie tighter as she scanned the moonlight painted grounds. Nothing was stirring, not even the wind. Taking a deep breath and keeping low to the ground, she scurried through the neatly manicured and freshly frost dusted grass. There it was! The fence! Now if she could only reach it before...

An alarm shattered the wintry silence. She threw a panicked look over her shoulder as the lights in the immense mansion flew on, dyeing the front lawn in its immediate vicinity a warm yellow. No longer bothering with stealth, she leaped to her feet and fled for the nearest high stone wall. It was ten yards away and closing when she heard the dogs. Ducking into the trees bordering grounds, she continued her desperate flight. _No, I won't go back. I won't go back. You can't make me. I won't go back. You can't make me. _

Her breath was rasping in her throat by the time she reached the wall. Panicked eyes darted around for a convenient tree to climb but there was none; not that she could climb easily. She turned her course parallel to the wall and set out to find one. The barking drew inexorably closer, spurring her heart and her pace. Voices now drifted to her on the gentle breeze that had sprung up. Someone was speaking into a walkie talkie.

"We have a lock on her, sir. She won't escape."

_But I will. You won't drag me back. I won't go back. You can't make me... Success!_ She jumped up, missed the branch of the tree, and jumped again. Even with the power suppressor on, she could still jump. Acrobatics were a human feat, after all. On her third try she caught it and strained with her scrawny arms to pull herself up. She was halfway there when something latched onto her ankle and tried to drag her back.

"You're coming with me," a voice colder than the air hissed.

"Leave me alone!" She kicked at her captor's hand over and over again with little effect. He was determined to carry out his orders. Her grip was slipping! _But I won't go back. I can't go back. You can't make me! _With a loud snarl, she kicked out one last time, successfully nailing him square in the face. He yelped and jumped back as she shot up the tree.

"Get back here!"

She crouched on the top of the wall and cast one last glance into the sea of shadows below her. Setting her jaw, she clambered hastily over the iron spikes crowning the wall. When faced with the drop on the other side she gulped and held her breath. She had to go, now. There was no telling what they would do to her if they caught her. Abandoning all caution, she launched herself into space. She hit the ground and rolled. The impact knocked the air out of her lungs. When she scrambled to her feet, fire shot up her leg. She'd done something to her ankle, but that was inconsequential at the moment. The frightened girl hobbled off into the night. Sirens, shouting, and barking chased her for miles, but soon faded into the distance.

She fled through the night, too terrified to consider where she would go next. The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon as she stumbled upon the New York city limits. Exhaustion overtook her as the adrenaline wore out. Finally, she found an abandoned building to crash in, but just for a couple hours. After a quick nap, she would assess her resources, and go... where? Where could she go where she wouldn't be recognized? One name slipped across her mind as it spiraled into sleep. This name had crossed her mind several times in the last two years. It meant comfort and anonymity. This name was: Dakota.


	2. Help Me

FATR: Okay, first chapter took place Winter 2004, just to clear that up now. Thanks for the reviews, **Moonjava** and **Cyllwen**. So, **Cyllwen**, you want to see Static with his coat off? I can do that, no problem. The rest of you, don't forget to offer your own input, if you have any. Kangor, Richie, and Virgil are more than likely OOC. Keep in mind, I love taking creative liberties. This is the last time I will mention it, you have been warned. To reiterate: Static Shock isn't mine, in any way, shape or form. If I could have been the company that made the toys so the show could keep going, I most certainly would not have hesitated. Too bad life doesn't work like that... Anyway, before I launch into an enraged fangirl rant, I present to you... the chip chip. Curtain up!

X)O(X

(Summer 2005)

A gentle wind breathed through the thick shadows of the brick canyon, catching scraps of paper and candy bar wrappers in a small tornado. They swirled around a couple times before coming to rest against a pile of old newspapers. The moon still lingered overhead, fighting a losing battle with the rising sun. The soft golden light plowed through the night, forcing it into a huddled mass of shadows at the end of the alley. The fact that it was both a Saturday and Summer vacation combined to keep the vast majority of Dakota's residents in bed. However, a minority were already up and roaming the streets. Some were out for trouble, others were just trying to sniff up breakfast.

Ferret Face came snuffling around the corner of one of the buildings. The shadows, the sun, and the breeze stopped to watch this timid, hunched, semi-human being. He moved crouched on all fours, with his nose to the ground, like a stray dog. There was almost something pitiable about him, despite his grotesque posture, elongated face, and glittery rodentesque eyes. Perhaps it was the uncertain way he moved, or maybe the way his oversized khakis and stained white undershirt hung precariously on his scrawny body, but he was one of the more pathetic figures out that morning. Ferret stopped and raised his head, sniffing the air. His eyes lit up with glee and he scampered to the nearest dumpster. He struggled with the lid for a moment or two then dove headfirst into the trash heap. "Yes!" He cheered, popping back up with a styrofoam container held over his head like a trophy. "Half a burger with cheese!"

The ground shook under a series of successive thuds. Bottles clattered and clinked, heralding the appearance of yet another Bang Baby. He towered over Ferret, both in stature and demeanor. The long, blue coat he wore flowed proudly around him, augmenting his presence. However, the most intimidating aspect of his form were the large black boots encasing his large powerful feet. His legs were smooth, dense muscle, all the better for leaping high in the air and propelling his cumbersome feet through brick walls. The name Kangor called to mind images of a demonic kangaroo for a reason. His nose wrinkled when he observed his partner's behavior, pushing his dark shades up slightly. "Show some dignity, man," he berated in a smooth Jamaican accent.

Ferret lowered his prize to chest level. His hurt was evident in his face and slightly whiny voice. "But, Kangor! I'm hungry!"

"You're always hungry." Kangor leaned against a wall and crossed his arms. His own stomach growled, but not audibly. There was no way he would stoop to eating the rotting leftovers of those who scorned him and his fellow meta-humans. But what to do, now? It was their first morning without Hyde. The night before, they had barely avoided being thrown in the pen for a third time. Hyde hadn't been as lucky as Kangor, who had always been smarter than his muscle headed crony. And Ferret? What Ferret lacked in intelligence, he made up for in speed.

"And what am I supposed to do?" Ferret demanded, still clinging to the old burger.

"We could hit a gas station, or a Pizza Hut..." Kangor trailed off as a mound of newspapers at the end of the alley ruffled and stirred. There was no wind to account for the sound. The two meta-humans looked at each other.

On a silent cue from Kangor, Ferret grudgingly released the trashed leftovers and sniffed his way towards the mound of papers. There was no further movement, but Ferret's super nose sifted a distinctly human scent out of the aroma of garbage. He sat back on his haunches and gestured Kangor over. Even though Kangor moved as silently as he could, the ground still shook under each step. Stealth didn't matter much, though, because Ferret ripped aside the newspapers to discover a cowering teenager.

When the papers were moved, she let out a small cry and shrank into her oversized black hoodie until they couldn't see her face. Her grip on her battered gray knapsack tightened. What could be seen of her skin (mainly only her fingers, as she wore fingerless gloves but was otherwise covered from head to toe in black) was a most unhealthy shade of white. A plain silver band sparkled on each finger and thumb, matching the plain silver bangles and chains on her wrists. "No... no, no, no..." she muttered under her breath, squeezing her silvery eyes shut. "Not here... not here..."

"What's in the bag?" Kangor demanded. Despite her ragged appearance, she seemed to own quite a bit of jewelry. Kangor was no professional evaluator, true enough, but it was bound to fetch something. Maybe she had something in the bag they could pawn, as well. Her head snapped up when he spoke and her hood fell back to reveal a thin, tormented face. She had at least four earrings in each ear, two eyebrow rings on her left side, and nose ring on the right. "What's in the bag?" He repeated when she didn't answer the first time.

She scrambled to her feet and pressed her back to the wall as if she might somehow escape through it. Shaking her head, she searched her mind for the right words. "Nothing. Nothing in the bag." The taller one (he seemed to possess the most control over the situation) gripped one of the straps of the knapsack and pulled it towards him. She held on defiantly for a moment or two but he wrenched it out of her hands easily. The force of the tug ripped her off balance and she landed on her side.

"Get her jewelry," Kangor commanded Ferret.

She whimpered, clenched her fists, and crossed her arms in front of her face. Ferret hesitated for just a second before diving on her and clawing her hands away from her face. Her thick sweatshirt protected her skin, but four tears appeared on each sleeve regardless of this fact. She lashed out at him, ripping four red lines down the side of his face. They wouldn't bleed, but he still jumped back, startled, with one hand pressed to the rising welts. She wouldn't push her luck any further. Once his weight had lifted, she rolled over and attempted to push herself up. She achieved a crouching position before he was on her again. One of his knees dug into her lower back and he yanked back on the neck of her hoodie. Choking, she clamped one hand around her necklaces. No way they were going to get them. No way. However, pulling back the neck of her hoodie had revealed a new oddity, one that made her attacker pause.

Kangor had observed some of this fight with minor interest before turning to investigate her bag. It was packed past capacity with boxes, but surprisingly light. He placed it on the lid of a trash can and unzipped the main compartment. He stared at the contents for a while before pulling out one of the boxes and opening it. Teddy Grams. The bag was overloaded with boxes of Teddy Grams. Well, that could account for today's breakfast, at least... and lunch... and dinner... perhaps even for the next two days.

"Hey, Kangor," Ferret called from his position on the girl's back. "Look at this!"

The meta-human in question restored the box to its rightful place, rezipped the backpack, and tossed one strap lightly over his shoulder. "What?"

She winced as he joined them in one hop, landing inches from her head. The ground rattled around them and she watched several junks of glass jump and vibrate. There was no use fighting. Even with her powers, she would have been far to undernourished and worn out for them to be very useful.

Ferret poked at the thick metal band around her neck with the claw of his right index finger. It shone faintly in the sun. Though it offered no signs of rust or tarnish, it had evidently been on her for quite a while. It was also apparent that many unsuccessful attempts had been made to remove it. There was an indent, about one centimeter square, on one side where something had been smashed and ripped off. "It's like one of those fancy, anti-power thingies."

Kangor didn't speak right away, though he had to agree with his friend's assessment. He'd seen a number of Bang Baby restraint devices in his time, but they had all been power specific, and he couldn't recall ever having seen a collar. It was entirely possible that the police had switched to a more universal method of power suppression. The city was run, after all, by a brood of money grubbing jack-offs. Bang Babies had already been an expensive nuisance for two years now; even Static. Static wasn't talked about as much, because of his public popularity, but the money for the street lamps he ripped up and the walls he crashed through had to come from somewhere. Money doesn't grow on trees. Kangor shook off this line of thought and returned to the business at hand. "Where'd she escape from?" Kangor addressed Ferret, even though he was studying her face to see if he recognized her from somewhere. Her eyes narrowed and her lip pulled up in a half snarl.

"Dunno," Ferret responded and pulled the hood back further for a better look. She made a choking sound and tried to bat his hand away, but something new had caught his attention so this was mostly lost on him. The faint light shone brightly off something metallic silver that began just bellow her neck, between her shoulder blades, and disappeared under the thick black fabric. "What's that?"

Kangor was about to answer but a trash can nailed him from behind before he could get any words out. The meta-human thudded to the ground, bouncing once, while the trash-can-turned-dangerous-projectile clattered and clanged off to the side. Remnants of purple sparks danced off the metallic cylinder. There was only one meta-human who could pull off that trick.

"Hey..." The confident smirk was all too evident in the cheerfully sardonic voice. Descending from the heavens like Zeus from Olympus was a dark-skinned youth armed with crackling energy. Due to the temperature of the season, the billowing blue coat he usually wore had been abandoned in favor of the black tank top. There was a bold yellow lightening bolt emblazoned on the chest. Muscles rippled beneath the flesh of his crossed arms, highlighted by the sun that glistened off his smooth skin. Though they weren't overly pronounced, at least not yet, they would have been enough to make any fangirl weak at the knees. His pearly white teeth flashed through the charismatic smirk and sparks sat in the corners of his chocolate eyes. "Why wasn't I invited to the party?"

Timid Ferret sprang up and backed away a step or two, cringing away from the bright light radiating from the hero. He found himself torn between running to save his own ass and sticking around to assist his buddy. There was little Ferret could do in this situation, really. In the hierarchy of Bang Babies, he was even less powerful than Shiv. Ferret didn't really have a very strong will to commit serious crimes, either. All he focused on was survival, which generally boiled down to digging morsels out of the trash or snatching a piece of fruit here and there.

Fortunately, Kangor was infinitely more confident and decisive. While his comrade struggled with his fight or flight instincts, Kangor recovered from the blow and launched an attack. The muscles in his legs coiled and released, sending him skyward just as a nova ball obliterated the ground where he had been standing. Kangor's feet impacted the building on the left with a brick shattering boom, leaving footprints that would make Sasquatch green with envy. The Bang Baby ricocheted off the wall and repeated the same process on the opposite side. This back-and-forth motion brought him level with the teenager on the flying disk.

It all happened too fast for Static to really respond. One moment, it seemed, Kangor was on the ground, and the next he was inches from Static's face. The sudden addition of weight coupled with Static's backwards leap to avoid the gigantic feet tipped the disk off balance and sent them both plummeting to the floor of the alley. Both meta-humans wrestled in the air, each trying to use the other as a shield from the concrete. Static ended up being the one on the bottom of the impact, but with the luck that only super-heros and fools seem to possess his fall was broken by an open dumpster.

Kangor used the youth's body as a spring board to gain some more altitude. The teenage crime fighter's soft stomach gave under the gang banger's boots causing Static to emit a small hiss of pain, much to Kangor's delight. Once the human battery disappeared into the trash receptacle, the thug kicked the lid closed and landed on it in a crouch. The lid dented under the impact. Kangor crouched there and waited for his breath to come back.

Ferret had left the girl, grabbed her backpack, and was now making for the mouth of the alley at what was almost a brisk jog. "Hey, we got the food. Let's just get outta here."

"Leaving so soon?" This came from a second youth who winged in on rocket powered skates, resembling nothing if not a modern day Hermes. He was pale and of slighter stature and form then his partner, but he was the Da Vinci of his generation. Though he spent much of his time in the electric hero's shadow, his inventions, mainly the explosive zap caps, had pulled them out of many a tight jam. Ever the faithful sidekick, Gear was always ready and willing to back Static with some ingenuity and sardonic humor.

Kangor straightened to his full height and sized up the green and white clad super-genius. He had dealt with Gear before, and hardly found him to be anything worth worrying about. With Static down for the count, Kangor was feeling pretty cocky. Not nearly as much could be said for Ferret, who was lingering uncertainly on the sidewalk.

The teenage runaway had slunk into an alcove made by two dumpsters and was observing the fight warily. She couldn't get past the mutant in the mouth of the alley, and the back of the alley was a dead end. Instead, she decided to wait in hiding. Maybe the two apparent super-heros would chase the two super-villains away and she could slip off undetected. Though she was familiar with such battles (they occurred almost on a weekly basis in New York) she was surprised to find them in Dakota. True, she had been away for years, but she had been looking forward to changes of a relatively peaceful nature.

"By the way..." Gear reached behind him and unhooked one of his latest inventions from his belt. "What's a party without music?" Long ago, he had figured out how to make zap caps play MP3s. Some modifications and a little inspiration from Talon had turned up this little invention. The egg-shaped device fit perfectly in his palm and was just the right weight for throwing, which is just what he did with it. On contact with the ground, it popped open and began emitting special high frequency sound waves. Gear had never tested these in the field before, but it worked better than he could have hoped. Kangor collapsed to the ground with his hands over his ears, convulsed a couple times, and passed out. A command to Backpack deactivated the noisy device and Gear descended. He didn't see Ferret anywhere, but that weasel would be caught easily enough later; especially with Hyde and Kangor in custody.

"Aw, man," Virgil groaned, emerging from the dumpster. "Next time warn me before you whip out a new gizmo." The hero rubbed his ears and studied the unconscious Kangor. Static's powers had protected him from the worst of the blast, but there was a persistent ringing in his ears now. Earplugs were a must, no joke.

"Sorry, bro." Richie couldn't help grinning behind his green faceplate as he retrieved and closed the zap cap. Effective and reusable; the zap caps sure had come a long way.

"I was having flashbacks to the Brittany Spears concert Frieda dragged me to," Virgil continued as he retrieved and folded his flying disk.

"That was Brittany, at least it used to be," Richie admitted with a sardonic grin.

Virgil looked from the motionless Bang Baby, to his partner, and back again. "I'm not sure even bigfoot here deserved that. That's just cruel and unusual," he laughed, shaking his head.

"That's nothing. I'm planning on updating to a Sharon's Tirade model."

Both of the heros shared a laugh over that but Virgil stopped abruptly. "Did she escape?"

Richie's brow wrinkled in puzzlement. "Who?"

"When I got here, they were robbing some girl."

"I didn't notice anyone running away."

A weak moan was emitted from a shadowy corner. Both heros investigated to discover a half unconscious figure crumpled in a heap there. Virgil knelt and shifted her so he could see her face. "Smooth move, Rich. You took out a civilian."

"I didn't see her!" Richie protested. He joined Virgil in examining the prone figure. The same band that had puzzled Kangor and Ferret caught Gear's attention with a wink. "Hello, what's this?"

Virgil pulled aside her hoodie for an clearer view of the device. "A power inhibitor?"

Gear silently concurred with this assessment. "It looks like she's been wearing it for some time. You recognize her?"

Static bit his lip and considered. He imagined he, having electromagnetic powers, would remember fighting a Bang Baby decked out in this much metal. "Nope," he concluded, "she's new to me. What should we do?"

Though Gear was filled with an overwhelming curiosity, he knew it would be more logical to leave her to the police. She had to be wearing the collar for a reason, right? Intellect told him to leave her, but intuition argued against that. Sometimes it was difficult to decipher between useful intuition and dangerous curiosity. Hence, his intellect was supposed to act as a mediator. "It might be better to leave her to the police..." Richie trailed off and looked to his friend for input.

"Yeah, maybe..." But both of them knew their consciences would berate them day and night if they didn't at least ask for her side of the story. Virgil specifically recalled Marcus, Permafrost, andDwayne when considering the matter. One shouldn't jump to conclusions. "She didn't seem to be with the other two," Virgil hesitantly pointed out.

"And she _is _wearing an inhibitor..." The two teenagers made eye contact and a mute resolution passed between them. "I'll probably kick myself for this," Gear laughed nervously.

"Let's hope not." Staticl whipped out his saucer, put the girl over his shoulder, and led the way back to the Abandoned Gas Station of Solitude.

X)O(X

The girl was now stretched out limply on the old couch. One arm was draped across her stomach and the other hung off onto the floor. Gear was hunched over her, a steady stream of information pouring across his visor from Backpack. The turtle-like robot in question was crouched near her head, poking at the collar with various fine instruments. Despite the sturdiness of the metal, several amateur attempts to remove it had damaged and warped it in several places. As minute as this warping was, Gear had been worried it would jam the lock. However, the obliterated technology on one side turned out to have little to do with overall purpose of the collar. "Well, the integrity of the locking mechanism hasn't been compromised."

Virgil, leaning over the back of the couch with a soda in hand, raised an eyebrow. "That's a good thing," he stated with a touch of uncertainty.

Gear nodded. "Backpack's cracking the combination as we speak. However, this puzzles me." He indicated the demolished area and the empty square. "This used to house a locator chip. I'm unable to determine the range of the homing signal, but wherever she escaped from, they didn't want her to get very far."

Static recalled Alva's island compound and shivered. "Maybe she escaped from a hospital, or a research lab."

Gear was also reminded of his torturous experience on the island, and he had been there longer and witnessed more than his friend. He shook the memories off. "We won't know until she wakes up." The collar popped open and Richie gently lifted her head to remove the band.

"How long do you think that will be?"

Gear shrugged, responding to another stream of data. "She's suffering severe malanutrition, her alpha waves are extremely low, somewhere around seven hertz..."

"English, please?"

"She's almost asleep, and according to BP she hasn't had proper rest or food in weeks, maybe even months, which means she could be out for one or more hours."

There was silence as they both contemplated the pale, listless figure. "I guess we wait, now..."

"Yep..." Richie turned the discarded collar over in his hands. "I'm going to have a look at this. Maybe it'll tell us something."

They both moved into the next room and set about their individual tasks in comfortable silence. Virgil tried to focus on some math problems for a while, then the history questions, but his mind kept drifting. Finally he dropped the pencil with a soft thump and looked over his shoulder at Richie's back. The hunched figure was silhouetted by the long, thin florescent light suspended above his workbench. "Anything?"

Richie shook his head. "I've never seen metal like this before, and the technology... It's designed to prohibit the use of any and all types of powers by recognizing fluctuations in DNA. If it shifts outside the norm, the collar releases an electric shock..."

_Tesssseract..._

The girl's left eye twitched, brushing soft black eyelashes against her pallid cheek, as the voice slithered through her head. It wasn't just a voice, it was a layer of voices, of indeterminate number, whispering as one.

_Tesssseract..._

Her silver eyes fluttered open and focused on the ceiling, her pupils widening to adjust to the shadows. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see an ethereal light glimmering through a rectangular opening. _It's a doorway_, she reminded herself absently without moving her eyes. There was something soft and spongy underneath her. Her hand lifted from the floor and trailed the tips of her fingers over the upholstered surface. It was indeed a couch. A couch somewhere dark and quiet, except for the light and voices in the other room. Faint wisps of a sour smell caressed her nostrils. It was familiar... gasoline. It was gasoline... A half memory suddenly struck her. Keeping her eyes trained on the ceiling, her other hand rose from her stomach and went to her throat. It encountered bare flesh. The corner of her mouth flicked upwards in a half smile. Yes, as she drifted back into consciousness she could feel the familiar tingle in her palms and coursing through her spine.

"... Alva?" Static's voice drifted in from the other room.

"This is too high-tech, even for Alva," Gear responded.

The girl placed one foot on the floor, rose slowly into a sitting position, and then placed the other foot on the floor. Her necklaces slid comfortingly against her skin. Gravity dragged some of them back to their original places, but others fell down her back. Apparently the super-heros had whisked her off to their hideout and removed the irksome power inhibitor for her. She had managed to smash the locator chip, but it was such a relief to finally be rid of the last link to those damned three years... _No. Think on that later. You came here on a mission. Focus, focus, how can you slip out undetected? Do you have the power for one more trick? I haven't done this in so long, last time was... Did I recharge? No, no, I didn't. They wouldn't let me recharge unless it was... No, you have to get out of here. Flashback time later, escape time now. Escape time now. Escape now. Escape... _She repeated that word over and over again as she inspected the room. The only evident way out was the door, but she wasn't about to go into that light and confront those faceless voices. After over a year, she still harbored a soft dislike for super-heros. Old programming would die hard... _Dammit, focus!_ Her eyes picked out the wall least cluttered with stuff and she took a deep breath. It was worth a try...

"It's been an hour," Virgil was saying. "If she's up we can just ask her."

Richie nodded agreement. He followed Virgil through the doorless entryway. The place had been cleaned up significantly, but there were still stubborn cobwebs clinging in the higher corners. Richie had possessed every intention of taking care of those but things kept... His thoughts were cut off when he bumped into his stock-still friend. "What is..." Richie followed Virgil's amazed gaze to one of the walls. The blond's face underwent a similar transformation. Side by side, the two friends both made up the phrase: 'shocked and amazed.' In a strange twist of irony, however, Richie took on the role of shock...

Virgil could hardly believe what he was seeing. The whitewashed wall had supported one or two shelves of dusty junk. Most of it had been abandoned there before the two heros took over the place, and Richie had kept it around for spare parts. However, shelves, junk, and clean white wall had vanished in favor of something suspiciously akin to the outside wall. Virgil took a few cautious steps forward and brushed a shaking hand over the grimy surface. It wasn't an illusion.

Richie watched his friend do this, the wheels in his head grinding away. A scan of the room indicated the girl to be gone.

Virgil's eyes widened and he turned to his best friend. "You thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Not sure. What're you thinking?"

Virgil pursed his lips and then strode purposefully out of the room and out of the building.

Richie cast a puzzled glance at his retreating back then jogged to catch up. When he stepped into the scorching midday sun, he scanned the cracked and weedy parking lot for Virgil. "Static?" He called.

"Over here!" Virgil called from behind the building. "You are _not_ going to believe this!"

Richie jogged around the corner to join his friend in gaping at the outside wall, which had become the inside wall. Everything, shelves, paint, and junk, were in their exact places, but on the wrong side.

"One question."

"Only one?"

Virgil smirked but went on with business. "How does someone turn an entire wall inside out?"

Richie shook his head. "I dunno, but I hope she's one of the good guys..."

X)O(X

(Evening)

Frieda never really like being home alone. The house always seemed to double in size and swallow her up, especially with the blue shadows scratching on the windows and curtains. Her parents had gone out to dinner and a movie, but not before going over the list of emergency numbers two or three times. The auburn haired teenager had assured her parents time and time again that she would be fine. However, as soon as they left, images of the shadow Bang Baby had begun assaulting her overactive imagination. Right now she had on all the lights in the kitchen.. and the living room... She shuffled across the green and white tiled floor, feet nestled snugly in rose-pink fuzzy slippers, and opened the refrigerator to pull out a new box of silk tofu and some strawberries. She tucked these under one arm and also brought out the skim milk. Virgil and Richie accused her of having some kind of fun deficiency, but Frieda truly did like tofu shakes. She chose a banana at random and dumped all of the ingredients into the blender, pureeing them into the fruity, all natural treat she knew and loved.

X)O(X

She swooned, temporarily losing her sense of direction in the deepening shadows and falling to her knees. It felt like the ground was splitting open beneath her. Her stomach lurched into her chest as she was overcome with a plummeting sensation. The bejeweled hands covered the thin, exhausted face as she steadied herself. This was the right neighborhood. She was almost there, that is, if it was still the same house... but there was hardly any reason for it to change... The runaway staggered to her feet and pressed onwards.

X)O(X

Frieda pulled her pink terrycloth robe tighter around her and settled down on the plush couch. Settling back against her white feather pillow (embroidered with purple and yellow butterflies) she went over her mental checklist. Tofu shake? Check. Favorite pillow? Check. Remote? Check. The teenage girl was fully prepared to immerse herself in standup comedy for the next four hours. Some cosmic being had other plans for her evening. Just as she picked up the remote, she heard a faint tapping on the front door. She froze, not even entirely sure she had heard it. The silence stretched on and she was on the verge of dismissing it as jumpy nerves. Then she heard it again, more urgent and insistent. Frowning, heart thudding, Frieda slid off the couch and crept to the door. All windows were carefully avoided. Flipping on the porch light she checked the peep hole. All she could see was the top of a hooded head. There was another stretch of silence before the knock came again, more urgent but still weaker than ever. Frieda took a breath and opened the door a crack. Her soft, pink lips formed an 'O' of surprise and she flung open the door all the way.

Frieda flung open the door and stood, staring. Disbelieving? Probably. She wore a pink robe over white and pink heart pajamas, and the streaks in her hair had grown out, but other than that she looked almost exactly as the hooded runaway had pictured. The black-haired girl longed to break the silence, but doubted she had the energy to speak.

Frieda took in the ragged yet familiar figure on the porch. She had dropped a dangerous amount of weight, her cheeks were smeared with street grime, and the silver streaks in her hair had grown out. However, there was no doubt it Frieda's mind that she knew the girl standing on her porch. No, not standing. She was leaning against the wall, on the brink of collapse. Her breath was coming in shallow gasps, and her usually sharp eyes were glazed over. "... Tess?" Frieda finally managed to get out.

Tess took an unsteady step forward. "Frie... da..." She fell into her old friend's arms and surrendered consciousness.

X)O(X

FATR: Mwahahaha! Cliff hanger! I hope you like how I treated the coatless Static request, **Cyllwen**. You see I take the requests seriously, so ask away! Ferret fans (are there any? Haha, jk), I have good news and bad news. Good news, he's coming back in the next chapter. Bad news? Well, it looks like there's going to be a lot of Ferret abuse. I also felt Gear deserved some lime light for once. I mean, I know he's the sidekick, but sometimes his performance is just embarrassing. I won't launch into detail, but I'm sure you know what I mean. Okay, your turn. R&R time! I'll even take well-founded flames. For example: You can say, 'This story sucks' if you like (I'm all for freedom of expression), but you must be prepared to tell me why the story sucks. See you next chip chip!


	3. Darwinian Laws

Game3

FATR: Hello, everybody! Are we ready to play? Good! As soon as I can afford and find a good lawyer, I'm going to try to take over Static Shock and make a fifth season, maybe a toy line. However, as that won't happen any time during this millennium, I don't own a damn thing, except Tess. I'd love to own Ultimate Otto. I'd keep him on a pretty, pretty chain with a pretty leather collar if I did, but I don't, so all I can do is dream. The game they play comes from Bash... Which leads me to the language warning. The language in this chapter is pretty intense, man, mainly because two certain characters are _so mature_ (that's sarcasm, of course). If I ever have to move it to R, though, I'll warn you a chapter before hand. More flowery descriptions and epic comparisons, because no one flamed them. I have another planned for the next chip chip, but that's beside the point. Curtain up on chip chip 3! The scene? A city street...

X)O(X

The street lamps flicked on two at a time, in opposite pairs, puddles of light traveling up the empty sidewalks. Buildings towered over the street, staring with blank, dark eyes at the moonlit world. The stars played hide and seek among the think layers of clouds, twinkling in temporary triumph over the sun. Dark had won once again. The battle would be repeated sooner than it would have liked, but that was for another time. For now, it contended itself to spread icy fingers across the sky, across the stars, across the moon's very face. It caressed both of her cheeks with a lover's gentle touch. She glowed her ecstacy as the vaporous gray sheets were pulled over them. In no time, all the natural light had been pulled from the world. All that remained were the dirty yellows, demanding greens, and eye-aching reds. There was a pregnant stillness. The red stoplight glared assertively into the night, forcing it to wait. That was its job; forcing things to wait. It finally dropped control to its just as assertive counterpart, green. On cue, the sky burst open and rain leaped forth, chattering with excitement.

Ferret scowled and cursed his luck. He was sitting on the grounded with his back against a wall and his knees up. Between his legs was the knapsack and an open box of chocolate Teddy Grams. He had one hand in the box when the rain started. The Bang Baby stuffed one last fistful in his mouth before sealing the box and shoving it back in the bag. His stomach was pleasantly full for once, not that there was much space to fill anymore. However, fear had dug its claws into his stomach not long ago and the deeper the shadows became, the tighter fear squeezed. Though he'd never seen them, Ferret had heard rumors of nocturnal Bang Babies with glowing eyes and big teeth. Some of them, it was said, even feasted upon the flesh of other Bang Babies from time to time, just for fun. They lived in sewers and subway tunnels during the day, but at night they slithered out, or crawled, or flew... Ferret gulped, wobbled to his feet, and shouldered the backpack. It was dangerous enough being on his own, without Kangor or Hyde, but now it was night time as well. He knew he'd be an easy target for any of the more sadistic Bang Babies. The same street rules had applied before The Bang. The weak ones got picked off if they didn't have a crew for protection.

He tried to think, wishing Kangor was there to do it for him. First he needed to find shelter from the pelting rain. The last thing he needed with his powers was a cold... Thinking of the quantities of tissue he'd probably have to rip off in that scenario boosted his spirits and made him smile a little despite himself. There weren't any such things as nightmare, vampire Bang Babies. It was just a tale someone, more than likely that control freak, Ebon, had spread to keep meta-humans from going off on solo careers. _So... I'll just go find a nice, dry place to sleep, and in the morning I'll feel a lot better. Heh, maybe I can even bust out Kangor and Hyde... somehow... _

X)O(X

Two hours after she had shown up, her dirty clothes were in the wash and Tess was curled up on one end of Frieda's couch in borrowed, baby-blue penguin pajamas. Tess rested on the arm of the couch with her left arm curled under her head. Her raven hair formed a waterfall of night that brushed the floor. Her eyes were closed again, but she wasn't asleep. The voices were plaguing her again.

The silverware clattered in the drawers as Frieda jerked it open. Her pale, graceful fingers selected a small spoon (she remembered Tess disliked large spoons) and slid it under the fruit in the bowl so it wouldn't fall out. The microwave beeped. Frieda, bowl in one hand, closed the drawer with her with her hip and answered the microwave's call. There was an entire vortex of questions swirling around in Frieda's mind, chief among them were: Where had Tess been? And why did she look even more messed up than she had before she left? Chai tea in one hand and bowl of fruit and honey milk in the other, she joined Tess on the couch. Frieda couldn't help but stare at the body art on her friend's back. What had Tess called it? Gilding? The silver design, embedded in her very flesh, began between her shoulders and disappeared under the tank top. Tess had once assured her that the tissue and cells immediately in contact with the metal were thoroughly dead and it didn't hurt a bit, but Frieda was disinclined to believe she was telling the whole truth.

Tess stirred when she felt the cushions sink as Frieda joined her but didn't open her eyes. She could feel the hazel eyes on her back and smiled to herself. "What?" She croaked, knowing all too well what. Frieda helped her into a sitting position and passed her the bowl of fruit: black berries, strawberries, bananas, and kiwis. Tess grabbed it as swiftly as she could manage without being rude and began scarfing it down. The cold milk felt good on her throat and the natural sugars danced on her taste buds.

"Where did you get that?" Frieda asked, in reference to the gilding.

The bowl of fruit was gone almost before Frieda finished phrasing her question. "You always ask and I never answer."

"Yeah," Frieda shrugged, smiling, "but I keep hoping one of these days you will. If you throw a ball in the air enough times..."

"It's bound to stay up there eventually," Tess finished with a return smile.

The smile appeared forced, strangely out of place. It gave the impression that wherever Tess had been, it hadn't been nearly as exciting as she had expected. Something about that sent a pang through Frieda's heart. Tess had left in search of help, and had been so thrilled when... "You want anything else?"

The bowl clinked onto the coffee table, the spoon clattering inside it. Tess knew what Frieda really wanted to ask. However, both of the girls were afraid to broach the subject. Tess would have been perfectly content to interview Frieda about highschool and the people she knew there, maybe ruminate on the good-ol'-days, but there was an elephant in the room that had to be addressed. It was either now or later. One thing Tess had learned about pain was that it was easier to take it at full intensity for the shortest amount of time possible, like ripping off a band-aid or piercing something. But she was so embarrassed by her behavior. She didn't want to tell anyone, even her best friend, about the curse she bore. Summoning all of her courage, with the help of a sip from the mug of chai tea... It was the penguin mug, that Tess had bought Frieda for her birthday... 13th, wasn't it... _Focus, Tess. Come on! _"I know what you really want to ask," Tess whispered.

Frieda bit her lip and looked away. "I'm under the impression you don't want to discuss it."

"I don't," Tess admitted. "But, in the immortal words of George Carlin," she added with a cheshire cat grin, "someone has to mention the turd in the punch bowl."

Frieda laughed despite herself, "Yeah, George Carlin..." She resettled on the couch and tucked her knees under her chin. "So... What happened? You seemed so enthusiastic when you left."

Tess nodded and spoke in a hollow voice. "I was... I mean, I actually thought they could help me, and maybe they could have, but... so I ran away... I mean, they said they would, help me, but... they kind of did help me but not... in a way... they..." Tess' expression hardened with frustration. "Sorry."

"It's okay, let's start from the beginning. Who was it?" Even though whoever it was had promised to fix her, Tess still seemed just as disorganized and distracted as ever, despite the sharp, focused appearance of her eyes.

Tess nodded and answered in the same disconnected, objective voice. "Norman Osborn. He's rich, incredibly so, because he owns Oscorp. He was working on this Oz stuff..." Her eyes flashed angrily. "Damn Osborn. I hope he's suffering deep in the Labyrinth as we speak..." She returned to the objective tone and picked up where she left off before this little aside. "...with this, like, super genius, Dr. Otto Octavius. He had his faults too, Octavius I mean, among them this extreme superiority complex, but that's beside the point." She stopped and waited for Frieda's next question.

"Where did this happen?"

"New York City... not really in the city part, but you know..." Her gray eyes went to the ceiling as she thought. She put one hand out palm up and made a circle gesture over it with the fingers on her other hand. "Sort of in the... outskirt thingies, I'll call them suburbs, around the city."

She gave Frieda the patient look again. "So, what happened? Why'd you run away?"

Tess put her head in hands and closed her eyes. Her voice was muffled by her palms but the weariness remained painfully obvious. "Aw, fuck, it was nothing like I thought it would be... I tried twice, finally escaped... finally made it back... I won't bother you with the gory details."

The auburn-haired teen smirked. "Aw, come on, I can take it." Her friend's head snapped up, eyes full of urgency and desperation. It was almost frightening, and probably would have been to someone who didn't know Tess.

"No. No, you can't, no, please don't ask... Please don't ask me that..."

Frieda held up her hands and leaned back a little. "Okay, okay, I promise." Tess nodded slowly and stared straight ahead, perfectly tranquil once more. When Tess turned her head away, Frieda turned sideways on the couch and crossed her legs. Her pink, glittery nailed fingers laced together in her lap and she slouched forward. Tess gazed through the TV at some unknown point deep in its gray-brown depths.

She watched the figures and forms Frieda couldn't see flitting across the screen in chaotic patterns. As she watched, one stopped long enough to press what passed for its hands against the glass and cock its head at her. A long black tongue lolled out of its mouth and its yellow eyes glimmered before it darted away in a blur to rejoined the surging masses. Tess sighed and set her gaze back on her friend. "Maybe Octavuis really did want to help me overcome all this..." Tess made a spiraling, all encompassing gesture with her hand, "shit. I'll never know now, so it's a cow's opinion, but he was... I knew he couldn't resist... I mean, I was more of a lab rat, a biological oddity, than anything else. You know?" When the other girl nodded, Tess continued. "So that sucked, and Osborn only wanted my... con... atten... I'll call it concentration... fixed so he could use my powers for... fuck, I don't know what. Something. I didn't want to find out. Winter, last year, I ran away, and here I am," she finished with another catlike grin.

Hazel eyes widened as Frieda stared. "All on your own?"

Tess leaned forward and reclaimed the tea with an unsteady hand. The liquid sloshed in the cup and almost splattered onto the floor. The dark-haired teen balanced it with her other hand and brought it to her lips. It was only lukewarm now, but that didn't bother her. "Yep," she answered matter-of-factly. "For the most part, details are a little sketchy, though, 'cause I didn't pay a whole lot of mind to the whole thing... I'll tell you about it later. So..." Tess offered Frieda a sheepish smile. "Could I have a... a peanut butter and onion sandwich? I haven't had one in ages, and I'm still starving..."

"Ew..." Frieda laughed. "You haven't changed at all! Next you'll be wanting Oreos and ketchup..."

Tess' eyes widened and flashed with excitement. "You have Oreos and ketchup?"

"I'm sorry I mentioned it," but Frieda's voice was saturated with amusement. She really had missed Tess. Tess made everything so much more interesting. Granted the girl was just a little unstable, but that eccentricity was part of what made her so entertaining. Once Frieda had broken through the stammering, disjointed speech barrier, her and Tess had been just about inseparable. They had even dyed their hair together once. Maybe they could do that again some time, along with all the other things they had wanted to do before Tess suddenly up and disappeared.

X)O(X

The pounding rain echoed through the pitch. A slumbering figure twitched and rolled over, hugging his knees to his chest with a shiver. Nightmarish creatures chased him down the corridors of his mind, gnashing razor teeth and glaring with yellow eyes. Ferret thrashed in his sleep again, groaning. He was backed into a corner, unable to run anymore. Heavy, clawed paws thudded and clicked through the rubble as the salivating beast stalked in for the kill. Ferret crouched down and crossed his arms in front of him. He couldn't see it, but he could hear it. Its rasping breath, its guttural snarl, the clatter of a beer can skittering across the floor... Ferret jerked awake in the dark and sat up straight. Had that been his imagination? Some lingering phantom from his subconscious? He sat still as a prairie dog, snuffling the hair. That was his primary defense against trouble: sniff it out while it was still miles away and hightail it in the other direction. Damn, he hated having to be such a coward. He smelled mildew and old piss, but other than that... _Wait, I definitely heard something that time. _He could also smell something like smoke, now. It was only faint wisps, probably days old. There was a lot of drug abuse going on, and...

"...t this!" Pause. "Anal Wrangler!"

Mirthful laughter bubbled through the gloom from one of tunnels that honey combed the bowels of the city. Ferret was sure he could smell smoke now. _Aw, man..._ flitted across his mind as he pressed against the wall. Maybe they would pass him by, miss him in the dark.

"No, no, no..." Another voice choked out between guffaws. "Anal Discovery."

More giddy chitters followed by, "Wait, wait, this is a great one: Anal Samurai."

That last comment proceeded the most explosive outburst of laughter yet. The rodent Bang Baby could now see violet light, molded into a arch by the curve of the ceiling, moving down the crumbling tunnel. Ferret backed up slowly, feeling his way along the wall for a side passage. There! He turned to run down it and stepped on an old glass bottle. It rolled forward, his foot kicked out from under him, and he thudded onto his back with a grunt. The laughter stopped dead and so did the light. Ferret laid on his back, trying decide if he should retrieve his breath or hold it.

"What was that?"

"Dunno."

He heard sloshing footsteps approaching his tunnel. His eyes grew large as the nightmare flashed through his head once more but he remained still and silent. Maybe they wouldn't look down this passage, maybe... If he closed his eyes they wouldn't see him, or...

"Well, well, well, looks like we've got us a rat problem." The sadistic voice belonged to a carmine haired youth in a flame colored shirt (pulled tight over his muscular physique). This agent of Aries stood with his feet apart and his fists planted confidently on his hips. There was white hot fire in his eyes and an ever-present scowl tugged down the corners of his mouth. His temper was both quicker and hotter than the destructive element he commanded. This often incinerated any limited capacity he may have had for logic or reason in the blink of an eye, making him one of the last meta-humans one would want to encounter in an underground tunnel.

The youth accompanying him wore an entirely different expression: a manic, ear to ear grin. His indigo goatee and matching spiked hair left one with the impression of a satyr. This earthly embodiment of Dionysus possessed a nearly immortal air of levity and a psychotic zest for life. However, the Greek god represented both the positive and the negative aspects of wine. There was the fun loving, playful side that lived for the sole purpose of a good time and went with celebratory drinking. There was also the violent and insane frenzy that went with drunkenness. While the light-wielding Shiv meant well more often than not, there was an edge lunacy and instability that made him almost as dangerous as Hotstreak. Almost more dangerous, for one could predict Hotstreak's outbursts and work to avoid them. Shiv was little more than a six-shooter with one loaded chamber. He held the purple lantern over the spreadeagle Ferret to get a better look.

"I'm a ferret," Ferret grumbled as he stumbled into what passed, for him, as an upright position. They knew each other in passing. They probably best remembered him as the one who was too cowardly to join up with Joker. At any rate, the look in Hotstreak's eyes was hardly hospitable. Shiv's eyes also glittered in an unnerving way.

"Yeah," Shiv giggled, "a ferret." He pulled his top lip up to expose his front teeth and made mocking, squirrelesque click/squeak sounds.

"Same difference," Hotstreak responded with a sneer. "They're both scraggly rodents." He shoved Ferret's tattooed arm with a searing hand and the smaller meta-human stumbled back a step or two.

A red, almost distinctly hand shaped burn marred his shoulder. Ferret resisted the cry of pain, knowing it would only encourage them. He also resisted the urge to clutch his arm. "Aw, c-come on you guys..."

"'C-come on y-y-you guys...'" Hotstreak teased cruelly before grabbing the straps of the stained undershirt in both hands. "What's the matter? Little weasel doesn't want to play?"

Ferret could almost smell Hotstreak's dementia. In fact, he could smell it in the nearly invisible purple smoke curling from the other's back and lungs. Hotstreak's breath smelled sour, too, like onions and ketchup. Ferret clawed the hands away and took more steps back. "Ferret," he corrected, trying to maintain some degree of control over the situation. It wasn't working. His eyes were so focused on the injured and enraged Hotstreak that he didn't notice the other threat. Before he knew it, Shiv had circled behind him to cut off his escape.

"Uh, uh, uh," Shiv scolded, wagging a finger. "It's not nice to pop into someone else's house uninvited then leave without so much as a howdy do or a hidey ho." He dropped his arms to his sides with his fists sticking out slightly to the right and the left. A luminous, violet scimitar shot out of each hand, blocking Ferret's escape. Shiv, empowered by the near imperceptible gulp his toy took, lifted his arms until the tips of the blades touched the wall and took a few steps forward. The blades shrieked along the bricks, throwing off purple sparks.

"Uh... howdy... do?" Ferret managed to squeak. This time he backed into Hotstreak and jumped around with a yelp.

"Yeah, you really shouldn't be down here." The red-head loomed maliciously. Light from Shivs's weapons cast eerie shadows across his face. In the dark, the infernal red blaze in his pupils was blatantly obvious. "_Really_ shouldn't be down here."

"And why n-not?" Ferret knew he was losing control of the situation rapidly. Then again, did he ever have control of the situation? Did he ever have control of any situation since becoming a Bang Baby? _I wish Kangor were here..._ "I've got as much a right to..." He trailed off. Those had clearly been the wrong words.

"Do you have any idea where you are?" The pyro hissed and narrowed his eyes. One would have thought it would be impossible to intensify his previous glare, but he managed it all the same. "You got a lotta nerve showing your piece of shit face around here, especially without big-foot and leather face."

"Yeah," Shiv piped up merrily. "You're in Ebon's territory now. Where is thunder-foot, anyway?" The swords winked out as his eyes landed on the stolen knapsack. He curiously delved into it and his smiled widened, if that were at all possible. "Ooh, Teddy Grams..."

"I... I... I..." Ferret stammered. Crap. He should've considered that before...

"You, you, you," Hotstreak mocked and grabbed Ferret by the scruff of the neck so the rat couldn't bite him. Though Ferret was little more than skin and bones, Hotstreak's fingers sunk into the pressure point at the nape of his prey's neck. This elicited the yelp of pain the red-head had been seeking. Even with his pyrokinetic abilities, there were times he preferred to fall back on brute muscle. "What?" He shook the smaller figure, for the first time noticing the angry red welts on his face.

"...didn't know," Ferret whimpered. "Kangor... He usually does the thinking..."

Hotstreak threw Ferret against the wall and cracked his knuckles. Sparks flew off of them and flames shot up. "You know what we gotta do, now..."

"C-come on..." Ferret pleaded from his hunched position on the ground. "I'll... I'll go... you'll never see me again, I swear!" Knives reappeared in place of Shiv's hands as he joined Hotstreak. "You can keep the Teddy Grams!" Ferret randomly threw out in a strange moment of desperate delirium. Hell, though, it was just random and off the wall enough to appeal to Shiv. There was no use appealing to Hotstreak. That was crystal clear.

One of Shiv's knives flickered away and he stroked his beard, actually seeming to consider it. Then he shook his head, causing his earrings to swing. "Nah. I'd get 'em either way, and Ebon told us," here his hand reverted to knife form, "to eliminate intruders on sight."

There were few options now that didn't involve some form of flight. All of them were most attractive at the moment. Ferret knew for a fact he was faster than Hotstreak. Shiv, however, was an entirely new puzzle. He was amazingly nimble, even without his powers. Then again, Shiv was also the least likely to inflict bodily harm. He had, after all, been on the verge of disregarding Ebon's orders for a few assorted boxes of Teddy Grams. The buck-toothed meta-human scrambled up the wall, pushed off with his sneakered feet, and landed behind the other two meta-humans. Before they even turned around, he was off like a shot, running more or less like a human.

"What the... after him!" Hotstreak's body became engulfed in flames and he lifted off the ground. Propelled by the flames in his hands, he rocketed down the tunnel after Ferret with Shiv close behind.

_Shit, I didn't know he could do that! _Ferret dropped to run on all fours, panting, sweating, and exhausted. He pulled ahead... fell back... pulled ahead... Just as he dared to entertain the theory that he might have escaped, three somethings whizzed under his arm and tacked his shirt to the wall. Shiv flipped over his head and stuck the landing with the grace of an acrobat. Each movement flowing into the next, Shiv leaned back, cocked his arm, and hurled three more ninja stars. Ferret found his shirt tacked to the wall on the other side as well.

"I got it! I got it!" Shiv beamed proudly.

Hotstreak alighted, the flames shrinking and collecting into a ball in his right hand. He tossed in lazily up and down. "Trapped like a rat..."

"What now?"

"Target practice?"

"No!" Ferret squealed and crossed his arms over his eyes. Heck, if he was going to be burned, he wasn't about to be blind as well.

The fireball swelled to miniature sun status. It was an astounding mass of swirling platinum, gold, and ruby crackling with a voice and life all its own. This sphere was smokeless and left a ghost trail behind it when its creator tossed it up and caught it again. "Batter up," Hotstreak grinned.

Shiv pulled out the purple bat, tapped the bottoms of his shoes with it, and experimented with a few swings before assuming the position. "Let's see the wind up..."

"You guys!" Ferret pleaded, almost allowing himself to think they might be joking. "Kangor and Hyde just got thrown into lock down! I'm on my own, here! Can't you..."

"Darwin's laaaawww," Shiv chuckled in a singsong voice without taking his eye off the ball. The pyro pitched, the light-wielder swung, and there was a blinding flash when the ball and the bat connected. In fact, the miniature sun burst into several stars which spattered and scorched the wall all around Ferret. However, with the luck that only fools and super-heros possess (or perhaps by some scheming and careful aim on Shiv's part), Ferret remained essentially unharmed.

Ferret's shell shocked gasp was accompanied by gleeful laughter from the two more unbalanced Bang Babies. The wind from the miniature bombs had actually rustled his hair, and the heat had been almost unbearable. This was far more than serious. Ferret wrestled his fear, desperate to reassert logical thought before it was too late. His stomach was in knots of terror but he couldn't think of that now. The wall around him was scorched and smoking, but he couldn't think of that now. Ebon couldn't possibly be this callous. He wouldn't just murder another meta-human for walking into his territory, would he? Meta-humans had to stick together... "Look, I've got no one! Let me... let me join!"

Hotstreak, who'd been molding another miniature sun, paused and stared contemplatively into its roaring depths. Shadow demons danced across the lines of his scowling face, giving him a hellish appearance. After a long, tense silence he burst out laughing. "You've got to be fucking with me. Listen, buddy, that ain't my area-"

"But... but you have to... let me plead my case to Ebon... right?" Ferret tried to sound assertive but it came out more hopeful than anything else.

"I don't have to do anything," Hotstreak warned.

Shiv, however, moved closer to inspect the specimen. He stuck the bat under his chin and lifted his head for a better look. After some intense scrutinizing he shrugged and the bat fizzled away. "You've gotta admit, though..." He turned to Hotstreak. "It isn't our place to decide who joins and who doesn't."

Hotstreak grudgingly realized the clown had a point. _What Ebon doesn't know won't hurt anyone but Ferret_, briefly flitted across his mind. However, Ebon had eyes in the shadows. Who knew when he was watching and when he wasn't? The pyrokinetic growled in frustration. He threw the ball down and kicked the wall but didn't speak out against the idea. "Aw, fuck, get him down and bring him along..."

Shiv beamed and the ninja stars disintegrated. Ferret gave him a timid, sideways glance as he rubbed the back of one hand nervously. With hunched shoulders and dragging feet, he trailed off after Hotstreak, who lit the way with a half raised right hand. Shiv brought up the rear, to make sure the intruder wouldn't run off. A close observer would have seen a light bulb pop on over his head to accompany the mischievous glint in his eyes. He stealthy put his hands together and drew them apart. Link by link, a chain appeared between them. Shiv flicked it at his target with perfected accuracy.

"Hey!" The indignant Ferret's hands flew to the collar now around his neck in a futile attempt to pry it off. A flick of Shiv's wrist caused the chain to bite into his back like a whip. He arched his back away, winced, and opened his mouth in a soundless squawk. Bang. Loaded chamber. Hunching over even further, he shot Shiv a clubbed baby seal look. The light-wielder didn't seem to notice.

"Hey, where were we, anyway?" Shiv asked the red-head.

Hotstreak frowned and his eyes drifted upwards. "Uh... Anal Samurai," he finally answered with a grin.

Shiv cackled until tears glittered in the corners of his eyes. "What about this, what about this... Anal Gremlin!"

"Anal Pulsar," Hotstreak countered, barely able to keep his face straight.

Ferret glanced from one comedy enraptured meta-human to the other. "What is it you're doing, exactly?"

Every shred of glee melted from Hotstreak's countenance in less than a second and his eyes flashed. However, Shiv seemed positively enthused by the prospect of spreading this childish game as far and wide as possible. Between bursts of exuberant laughter he choked, "You take the names," snicker, "of cars, right?" Snerk. "Then you," giggle, "add the word 'anal' to the beginning of them!" He burst into more laughter. "Like... Anal Jamboree!"

Hotstreak lowered his head and slapped his left hand to his forehead. His face was screwed up with repressed laughter. "Aw, man..."

Ferret thought he might see an opening to establish himself as one of the group. It was worth a shot, at any rate. The level of maturity surrounding this game was essentially nil, but he'd stooped lower for the sake of survival. "What about..." A dozen car commercials flashed through his head. "Anal Bug?" Shiv flashed the consummate idiot grin but, as usual, Hotstreak seemed bent on holding Ferret in even lower regard then he might a cockroach smeared on his sneaker.

"We got that one already," he growled without even bothering to visually acknowledge the rodent between him and Shiv.

Ferret gave up and turned inside himself. It was probably wiser to save his strength for negotiating with Ebon, anyway.

X)O(X

FATR: This was a long one. Okay... Thanks for the reviews **Glamek Stalker, Jill, Gear's Girl, **and **red turtle**. Stick with me a little longer, I have some comments to address to you.

**Glamek Stalker: **I read some of your stories, even though I don't think I reviewed. I read the one with Ferret and Static... "Small Talk" I believe it was called. I particularly loved "Nothing." Anyone into tragic, angsty fics? Go look that one up. At any rate, I looked over the list of characters in your profile, and rather than email you again, I'll just ask here. I'd like to use Button. Is that cool? I also wanted to ask, as pertaining to "Nothing": Naming Ferret Luke was a personal touch on your part, right? No one knows his real name? If that is the case, I'd like your permission to use that name, if the issue arises, and would like to know if you came up with a last name too. Heck, if not, I can always make one up.

**Jill**: Heh, I love Hottie Hotstreak, too. Aren't we just the same? I think you'll like... nah, I won't give away any of my plot bunnies yet. You'll just have to keep reading /mischievous wink/.

**Gear's Girl**/Devious laugh/ If only you knew...

**red turtle**: Always glad to satisfy two readers with the same element. I'm glad you like the descriptive language, too, because it looks like there's more on the way. I'm going to try my hardest, at least, to keep it up.

Penguin Peace until next chip chip!


	4. Are we Home Yet?

FATR: Uh... most of my actual notes are at the bottom this time, to tell you the truth. Man, I'm having a lot of fun with this, poor Ferret. Uh, insert a malevolent laugh here, and continue happily along with the chip chip, while keeping in mind that I own nothing except Tesseract, and maybe the underground thingy (you'll see what I'm talking about). I've said too much. We better get on with this. Lights down, silent audience, drum roll, and... curtain up on chip chip four...

X)O(X

Hysterical, girlish laughter filled the empty house. Tess' side of the coffee table had become a junkyard of chips, soda cans, a half empty two-liter, and assorted packages of cookies. It was the kind of mess only a teenage girl, with neither the supervision of an adult, nor a care in the world, could make. The laughter was in response to the comedian on TV, who was explaining why he wanted to be a snake, or one of the monsters from Aliens. Commercials filled the screen and the guffaws dissolved into giggles and gasps. There was a small crackling sound as Tess, still wearing the fingerless gloves, plucked an oreo out of its package and twisted it open. "Aw, man," she giggled. "I haven't laughed this hard since..." She stopped to consider as she sought out the ketchup bottle and squirted a little on top of the white frosting. Her obsession with ketchup came from its similarity to blood, but she wasn't about to admit that out loud.

"Since we wrote vulgar messages all over Brent's driveway with shaving cream?" Frieda's eyes sparkled with mirth. She disregarded the fact that Tess had just recapped the ketchup filled Oreo and popped it in her mouth. As disgusting as some of her eating habits seemed, Frieda had learned to ignore half of them, and appreciate the other half.

Tess broke into fresh peels of laughter. "They washed it off but it still showed up every time it rained!"

"Oh, god, I remember that!" Frieda exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear. "I can't believe no one ever caught us."

"I just have that special touch." Tess shot her an enigmatic wink and took a swig out of the two-liter. "You've done well?"

Frieda thought about the question for a bit then shrugged, blushing lightly. "I guess I've changed a lot, huh?"

"Two-face syndrom is c... normal, and benign enough," Tess shrugged and took another swig.

Frieda's eyebrows drew together in confusion and she cocked her head, leaning an inch closer to Tess. "What?"

"'What' what?" Tess blinked. "Oh, two-face syndrom. You... you know..." she flipped her hand a couple times in a 'not important' gesture, "do different things depending on who you're hanging out with... So?"

"I was on the journalism staff at school," Frieda began. "I was a reporter last year, and I'll probably be one again this year, but I'm hoping to make editor status by my junior year. I also did some work on the school website. Daisy and I ran a pop culture section about the Backstreet Boys."

"Backstreet Boys?"

"Yeah." Frieda didn't noticed the amused glimmer in the silver eyes. "I've actually become quite a Backstreet Boys buff... For example, did you know two of them got married a while back?"

"To each other?" Tess' eyes twinkled.

"What? No!" Frieda exclaimed indignantly, pretending to glare. However, the slightest tinge of a smile tugged the corners of her pink lips. "You..." She trailed off and threw her pillow at Tess to finish the sentence.

Tess was wracked with hysterical laughter as she put up her hands to ward off the pillow. "You're too easy," she gasped.

"You're easier," Frieda smirked.

Tess' jaw dropped and she gasped dramatically. "Oh, no, you did not..."

"Oh, yes I did."

Tess' fingers discretely dug into the aforementioned pillow. These play fights were almost a custom between the two girls. "You know this means war, right?" She playfully assaulted the other girl with the pillow.

Frieda squawked and rolled off the couch, dragged one of the smaller pillows along for use as a shield, and dashed into the kitchen. Tess dove over the back of the couch and was soon in hot pursuit. Their footsteps thundered on the floor and the kitchen door crashed into the wall as Frieda slammed through. She hurled the couch cushion at Tess to distract her as she, too, slammed into the kitchen. Thinking quickly, Frieda twisted on the cold water and grabbed the spray nozzle. She pointed at a line on the tile. "This is the line of death. You do not cross," she threatened in goofy accent. The water hissed out of the faucet behind her to emphasize the threat.

Tess raised an incredulous eyebrow and stepped over the aforementioned line.

Frieda maintained the accent. "This is your last warning." She pointed at another line. "That is the line of death. You cross it, you die."

Tess stepped over that last line and crossed her arms, shooting Frieda a smart-ass smirk.

"You've been warned." Frieda squeezed the handle and a shower of cold water leaped out with a sksht sound. Tess shrieked and covered her eyes with her arms, backing away. Frieda chased her across the kitchen. The range of the sprayer was really quite impressive. Tess fled from her until she finally found refuge in a far corner. The stream of water fell just short its target's feet.

Tess stood, the water splattering off the tile onto her bare feet in a fine mist. Her left arm hugged her stomach, her right elbow was braced on her left hand, and her right hand was pressed over her eyes. Her dripping hair formed a black curtain around her face. She quivered with internal laughter.

Still maintaining the accent, Frieda asked, "Do you surrender?"

Tess could only nod and snicker.

Frieda threw her hands in the air in a gesture of victory, the water spurting off at a random target. "I can't believe I won one!"

Tess snerked. "You triumph, grasshopper. We shall meet again." Her eyes wandered around the soaked kitchen.

When Frieda followed her friend's gaze, her breath left her. "Oh, shit!" She quickly replaced the sprayer and dove towards a drawer. "You," she pointed over her shoulder at Tess, "are a bad, bad seed." Her hand plunged into the drawer of roughly texture dish towels.

Tess beamed. "I know." She caught the wad of fabric Frieda thrust at her. Tess had always loved the smell of laundry detergent, and dishtowels always had that sweet scent of hot water fused into their very threads. A pale hand rubbed the wad of fabric against a pale cheek and Tess purred in contentment. Her mind drifted off into a world of suds and rainbows...

"Come on," Frieda urged. "We have to clean this up before my parents come back."

Tess' attention snapped back to the harshly florescent world of the kitchen. This was true. Mr. and Mrs. Goren thought highly of Tess (Tess' own brand of two-face syndrom) and they'd be infinitely more likely to let her stay if the house wasn't in shambles when they walked through the front door. More on this vein of reasoning than anything else, Tess dropped to her hands and knees and began wiping down the tiles.

X)O(X

They stepped onto a staircase that carried them further into the darkness beneath the city. One may have felt rather like Dante descending into his inferno, or Hercules descending into the Underworld. However, Ferret wasn't very familiar with Inferno, and if he had heard of Hercules it would have only been in passing. Water trickled down the chipped, gray brick, leaving slimy green and black trails its wake. The aroma of mildew permeated the atmosphere and burned in the rodent meta-human's sensitive nostrils. In the faint orange glow bobbing down the passage a few steps ahead, he saw the shadowy silhouette of Hotstreak flinch under the touch of a renegade drop. It attacked him from the ceiling, burning him with its cool moisture. The fire he caressed in his right hand jumped and shuddered with his agitation, causing the shadows around the three meta-humans to shift and glide like phantasmal shapes. Ferret gulped, again finding himself wondering about the nocturnal Bang Babies. Ferret, who had lost his sense of direction a few hundred twists and turns ago, ventured, "Where are we?" His voice bounced off the walls, unnaturally loud, and he instantly regretted breaking that unholy silence.

Hotstreak tossed the sphere onto his left pointer finger and spun it like a basketball. The surrounding shadows danced in response, but hardly intimidated him. The only things he still hadn't quite adjusted to were the unheralded drips that slithered out of the cracks in the low ceiling. "We can't tell you. Meta-breed rules, you understand."

Ferret couldn't repress his snerk at the idea of Hotstreak following anyone's rules. Under normal circumstances, the reaction would have gone unnoticed, swallowed up by street noise. However, in this airless, oppressive space, the walls grabbed the sound before it could get too far and began playing a wild game of catch with it up and down the hall. Ferret jumped and squeaked when he suddenly found Hotstreak's enraged face bare inches from his own.

Hotstreak bent at the waist to send an infernal glare into the smaller meta-human's eyes."You wanna try me, rat boy?"

Ferret shied away and shook his head vigorously, causing the luminous chain still around his neck to jingle and crackle.

"Damn straight." Hotstreak jabbed a finger into the scrawny chest to punctuate each of his next four words. "Always. Know. Your. Place." He turned and kept walking.

Ferret freed the breath he had been holding. _I really need to be more careful. Hotstreak's just... psychotic..._ He glanced back at Shiv to gage his reaction. The blue-haired teen was staring at something on the ceiling, even as they walked, yet he never stumbled on the stairs. Something about Shiv's intent yet unreadable expression sent shivers down Ferret's spine, especially since he couldn't pick out anything on the ceiling worth staring at. What had become known as 'the Shiv grin' reappeared and his gaze traveled to the left, down the wall, and stopped to rest on his feet. Ferret's own eyes returned to his own feet. It was best not to think about the airless catacombs. It was best not to dwell on the temperaments of his escorts, and it was certainly optimal not to entertain questions of Shiv's sanity, for a number of reasons best left unacknowledged. Instead, he concentrated on a hole in his black and white sneaker.New sensory input snapped his head up. It wasn't the wreak of mildew, mold, or the faint hint of fungal spores that burned his olfactory senses. As they neared the bottom of the stares, the foul stench of rot peeled itself off the wall of smells and flashed him a decayed grin. Ferret doubled over and almost tossed up all of the Teddy Grams right there.

Hotstreak heard the gags and wrenches behind him but didn't turn around. He could see the crumpled lump at the foot of the stairs. It seemed to twitch and stir in the flickering light. The pyro only paid the pile of green flesh, bone, and rags enough mind to hold his breath as he stepped over it. The tunnel that faced him was lined with doorless arches that either dead-ended in small rooms or became passages branching off all over the city. A few of them had grimy, crude curtains draped across them. Some of them had vertical planks of wood leaning haphazardly across them, lending the impression of a rudimentary prison block. There was a squawk and a thump behind him, followed by more wrenching sounds. Hotstreak glanced back to see Ferret on his hands and knees struggling to keep the contents of his stomach down. _He must've tripped on the body..._ "Get up, wuss!"

Ferret barely felt the sharp jerk on the leash he wore, but the smell was so all consuming and nauseating he could hardly make his limbs function. It wrapped greasy fingers around his throat and squeezed mercilessly, making his eyes water. Ferret partly crawled, but mostly allowed himself to be dragged, away from the decaying thing. What was that? And why did they leave it there? Ferret thought about its shriveled, shrunken face, the single eyeless socket... a morbid thing of indeterminate gender, class, or career. Was it human? Was it meta-human?When they were a tolerable distance away, Ferret sucked in deep breaths of relatively clean air and focused on calming his churning stomach. The air down here was all stagnant and stale. He staggered to his feet and took in his surroundings. The compound reminded him of something. It was kind of like... the underground city of the thieves in that book he had liked growing up. He peered down one or two of the branching halls but the unstable orange light couldn't reach its fingers far enough into the inky darkness to show where they led.

The corridor ended in a cloth screened arch. Hotstreak breezed inside without so much as looking back. Beyond this curtain lounged a figure darker than the eternal night that consumed the veins and arteries of this underworld. He was a dead ringer for Hades; an omnipotent figure with a malevolent glare and authoritative voice. Currently, he balanced in his chair with his feet crossed on the box in front of him, but this laid back attitude was merely a facade. Ebon was sharper than a hawk and slyer than a fox. He saw all, knew all, and controlled all. The shadows were his eyes, and most of the meta-humans in the city had come to answer to him.

Even though Hotstreak was the first to enter, and generally the more assertive one, Shiv tended to have the biggest mouth. "Ebon! Look what we found!" Shiv shoved Ferret toward Ebon. "Can we keep him? Please?"

Ferret smiled nervously and presented a half wave, not sure what to do or say.

Ebon scrutinized the haggard offering with narrowed eyes. He appeared weak and useless, but every Bang Baby, even low men like Button, was offered a chance to challenge any initial negative impressions. A deep rumble escaped Ebon's throat as he stood and moved around to the front of the box. "And you are?"

"F-" Ferret's voice cracked and he cleared his throat. "Ferret."

"Never heard of you."

"Yeah, well," Ferret shrugged and rubbed the back of his left hand: a nervous habit. "I kind of... keep to myself." Silence settled in to brood on his shoulders, its weight increasing the slouch in his posture. Three pairs of eyes burned into him, as though stripping away his flesh to judge his soul. _What else am I supposed to say?_ "See, the rest of the Rough Pack got thrown in the big house, so-"

"The rest," Ebon interrupted with a tinge of amusement in his voice. "You mean Kangor and Hyde?"

"Yeah. And..." Ferret decided to leave out the part about running from Static and Gear. He also omitted the part about wandering the streets in a daze all day, sick with fear and uncertainty, munching on Teddy Grams. "When it started raining, I decided to find a dry place to think things over and get some sleep. My original plan was to break them out in the morning," he gestured over his shoulder at the other two, "but then they showed up." The others' earlier, territorial reaction, and rumors of the size of Ebon's ego, prompted him to add in a rush, "I didn't know this was your territory, and I mean no... disrespect..." He trailed off. Well, which image did he want to go with? Tough guy who answers to no one, or humble, loyal coward? He was so fucked, either way, really... best to go with loyal coward. Sadly, the most convincing story was always the truest story. There was also the matter of winning Ebon's trust, so Ferret would have to be honest in all things at this moment.

Ebon wasn't quite sure what to think of this nobody Bang Baby. He wasn't very well acquainted with Hyde, either, but he respected Kangor enough to entertain the idea of bringing Ferret in under his shadowy wing. However, he had to keep the pressure on Ferret, so he responded with, "Why shouldn't I kill you?"

The rodent meta-human hadn't been prepared for that question and his knees almost gave out from under him. "I'm... obedient... and loyal. I'm careful, too." Ferret felt like he was doing pretty well until he heard Hotstreak clear his throat behind him. His heart sank. What was the vindictive flame-head going to do, now?

"Careful," Hotstreak asked, smirking, "or a pussy?" When Ferret's only reaction was to freeze up, the psycho turned to Ebon. "The reason you've never heard of this piece of rat shit is that he's never _done_ anything. He's a useless pussy. Even his powers suck."

"The Joker didn't think my powers suck," Ferret snapped defensively before being sorry he'd reminded the other two of that incident.

"You turned him down 'cause you didn't want to get in trouble," Hotstreak sneered. There was no way anyone was going to get away with talking to him like that, especially not this feeble, pathetic excuse for a...

"But he still asked me," Ferret shot back.

Shiv giggled. "Yeah, 'cause otherwise Kangor woulda said no."

"And now, Kangor ain't around to babysit you," Hotstreak continued, cutting off Ferret's reply, "so you're crying to us."

Ferret was struck off balance by the truth of these words. He wouldn't have expected Hotstreak of all meta-humans to be so... insightful? Huh. It was just a lucky guess, was all. There was no way that anger management drop out could know anything. "No," Ferret asserted defensively.

Hotstreak glowered at the other meta-human and shifted toward him half a step. Ferret flinched but retained eye contact.

Ebon watched this with his typically unreadable expression. There was some fight in the mangey creature, yet at the same time he appeared to be a complete pushover. On top of that, he was more competent and lucid than Shiv. The shadow man intervened in the brewing fight by stepping in and trapping Ferret with a shadowy arm around the scrawny neck. As he led the Bang Baby away from the others, the phosphorus chain snapped and evaporated in a shower of sparkles. "Listen, Ferret," Ebon began. He felt Ferret quivering like a chihuahua. "I never turn down a fellow meta-human. But yah see, we're a family down here. Each supports the other. You get me?"

"I... I guess..." was Ferret's uncertain reply.

"This ain't no free ride. You want our protection? You gotta prove your loyalty. Prove that you can pull your own weight."

Ferret glanced up into the glowing white eyes and felt his stomach knot up. What had he gotten himself into? He kept wondering that over and over again. They weren't going to make him kill somebody, were they? All of them were seriously messed up, way out of his league. Then again, if it came to kill or be killed? Ferret groaned mentally. "What do I have to do?"

Ebon removed his arm and, with a chuckle, clapped Ferret on the back with an audible thump. "I like this kid already."

X)O(X

Though thick clouds still choked the light from the misty air, the rain had fallen and was now commencing its laborious climb skyward. The house had long since ceased breathing. The only touches of movement were the muted phantoms casting their bright shadows across the sleep-stilled face. The light glittered along the silvery rings and lent a bluish cast to the complexion. Tess slept like death. Not an eyelid fluttered, not a muscle twitched. Frieda smiled at this misleading portrait of innocence and rose soundlessly to her feet. The empty two liter still hung in Tess' limp fingers. When the hazel-eyed teen gently slid the bottle from her grasp, Tess didn't so much as flinch. _She must be exhausted_. Frieda cast her a compassionate glance before gathering the cans and carting them out to the recycling bin in the garage.

As the cans clattered and clanked their greetings to the others, Frieda reflected on what had just happened and where it was going. True, she was thrilled, absolutely _thrilled_ to see Tess again, but there were still memories that didn't make her laugh. Some of the things Tess had goaded her into made her blush at her own stupidity. At the time they had all seemed like good ideas, and the two girls always remained anonymous. That, however, only served to show Frieda just how little about Tess' powers she really knew, and concerned her more than calmed her. Did she fear Tess? _No. No, I'm not afraid _of_ her. Tess would never hurt me. I guess... I guess I'm afraid _for_ her. _The garage door thundered open, interrupting her thoughts. She moved out of the way as her parents parked and exited the vehicle.

"Frieda, dear, shouldn't you be in bed by now?" Mrs. Goren asked.

"Mom! You'll never guess what happened!"

In the dark, Mrs. Goren mistook her daughter's rapture for distress. "My goodness, are you okay? Are you injured?"

Frieda was puzzled for a moment, then shook her head. This gesture was lost in the inky night, but not the words "No, everything's fine. I mean... Tess came back!"

"Tess?" Mr. Goren's eyebrows shot up. "Tess Escher?"

"Yes, she's," Frieda pointed behind her at the crack of light from the kitchen door, "asleep on the couch. She didn't look too well when she came in, but I think she'd doing better, now."

Mr. and Mrs. Goren exchanged a glance as they followed their daughter inside. They'd never entertained the idea of even hearing from Tess again, not after the first year and a half had gone by. It had hurt them so much to see their lovely little girl so distraught by the loss her of greatest and closest friend. Tess had almost been like a second daughter to them, despite her abilities and disabilities. In fact, they may have even adopted the troubled little girl, if whoever had snatched her away hadn't beaten them to it. They hadn't been allotted specifics, but they had heard that the man had been very rich. _Very _rich. Rich enough to buy up the system, at any rate. But, time had passed, Frieda had begun high school, and made two new friends. After a while, it had appeared as though Tess was gone forever. Then again, that girl had always had the habit of turning up in unlikely places. They made their way around the couch and stood observing the piteous scene.

"Should we move her?" Frieda asked.

Tess didn't look well. Her face was gaunt and pallid. "No," Mr. Goren answered. "Let her sleep, she looks like she needs it."

Mrs. Goren drew the blanket off the back of the couch and draped it over the sleeper. "We'll discuss more permanent arrangements in the morning."

Hazel eyes sparkled in the dull light of the TV. "You mean she can stay?" Frieda knew there would be a huge mess when they found out Tess had run away from her legal guardians, especially if this Osborn person managed to track her here. However, those little details could wait until morning... morning a couple days from now...

"For a while, if she wants to," Mrs. Goren smiled. "But it's late, and you should be asleep, too."

Frieda smiled back and hugged first her mother, then her father. "Thank you. I love you both." After exchanging good-nights they drifted off to their various rooms. The Gorens' daughter could hardly imagine sleeping, not with all the possible activities swirling around in her brain. She couldn't wait to introduce Tess to Daisy, Virgil, and Richie. She just knew they would love her! Then again, she didn't want to place too much strain on her friend too early. Tess was easily overwhelmed, and that much input all at once... Well, she would just have to ask Tess herself in the morning.

X)O(X

FATR: What has Ferret gotten himself into? I'm not sure if it will be resolved in the next chapter or not. I'll just have to see what my muses tell me. Oh, and I fixed a typo or two in the last chip chip, and (after some extensive research) have determined Hotstreak is more of an Aries than an Apollo. Little changes. They won't affect the story, so don't worry. Hm... I'm not quite sure what's going on in Shiv's head yet, and quite frankly I'm a little afraid to look. Heheh, just kidding. You'll know when I know.

**lt. commander richie**: Neat trick! You think I can do that? Heehee, I do hope you came back for this chapter, and I hope you come back for the next one as well.

**mistermistoffelees:** That's what happens in this chapter. Heh, see you next time, perhaps?

**Glamek Stalker: **Woot! Long review! Button will appear, even though he's not here yet. I have many places for him to fill, I do. Let's see...

And to all of you, something I'm just curious about: how did you pick your screen names? Just me, being curious. Don't be afraid to let me know if I'm being over the top, even though I'm preparing a perfectly good explanation for the underground community thing. You'll see. Any Bang Baby appearances you would like to see are still being accepted. Remember that. Thank you all for your time and I strongly encourage you to review again.


	5. The Calm

FATR: I've got a Patton Oswalt quote hidden in this chapter. If you find it... uh... you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you found it. I think Shiv let me into his head for a little bit, and it wasn't nearly as complicated as I expected. I feel like there's a lesson there, somewhere. Let's see... I don't own The Ring. I don't own Spider-Man, I don't own Static Shock... Let's make this simple. The only I do own is Tess, okay? Okay... And, yes, there is a Spider-Man comic in this reality, even though there is also Spider-Man in this reality. See, I'm not sure what the time frame for this is, exactly, in relation to the show and the comics. It's pretty much just alternate universe, but in Ultimate Spider-Man Volume 10, there were people making a Spider-Man movie. So why can't there be a comic? There. I've logically defended that point. Reviewer acknowledgments are at the end. On to chip chip five...

X)O(X

The sun brushed the curtains aside with golden hands to spy on the slumbering girl. Her auburn hair spilled wildly across the clean white pillow, but her overall demeanor was serene. The lavender blankets rose and fell with her respiration. One arm fell across her stomach and the other was bent around her head. Her head was turned so that her face was buried in the crook of her elbow, but she slept on her back. The white door opened soundlessly and a dark figure, damp raven hair curtaining her face, slunk to the foot of Frieda's bed. She crawled onto the foot of the bed and up the sleeper's body until she sat straddling Frieda's waist. Frieda felt the mattress dip under the extra weight and groggily turned her head.

"Seven days," the figure hissed.

Frieda's eyes fluttered open. The blurry being swam before her, hiding behind the mask of hair. Frieda squawked aloud and jerked upright, almost clashing heads with the other girl. As her heart slowed and her brain came around, she realized the apparition was tittering at her. The damp hair parted on one side to disclose not a dead, water molded face, but a sparkling sliver eye. "... Tess!" Frieda exclaimed. "What the hell?"

"Expression... your face..." Tess fell over sideways in a seizure of laughter, bouncing once on the mattress. She'd already been up for over an hour and had taken the opportunity to shower, shave, and borrow Frieda's tooth brush. Tess knew she'd be drifting in and out of sleep at random times until she had the chance to power up a bit, but those chances would be difficult to come by. All well, she would just have to keep her eyes open._ Yeah, that'd go over well... 'Anywhere I can scare up some energy, FriFri?' I can just see..._

"You almost gave me a heart attack!" Frieda wasn't mad. Back in the old days, she'd been used to these antics. Tess stopped laughing and laid on her back, half on, half off the bed, grinning up at Frieda. "What?" Frieda smiled back.

Tess pointed to the door and summed up her purpose in one word. "Pancakes."

Frieda rubbed her eyes on the back of her hand and ran her fingers through her hair with a groan. To the untrained ear, Tess' words may have sounded a little like a request or a demand, but Frieda knew it meant, 'You're mother's making pancakes and she told me to come get you.' This is what prompted Frieda's next question, in combination with noting that Tess was up and showered and dressed. "What time is it?"

"One one," Tess giggled, bouncing to her feet. "Come on!"

So she was in a manic mood. Frieda's lips drew up and back at the corners to see Tess' improved condition. They quickly dropped back into a confused frown. "Eleven o'clock?"

"Well, yeah..." Tess stopped bouncing and stared at Frieda. "Chop, chop, sleepyhead!"

"But..." The groggy fog was slowly drifting away, but confusion still lingered. "It's Sunday, eleven o'clock on Sunday."

Tess rattled her bracelets and clicked her rings impatiently. "Yeah?"

"No one woke me up?" Frieda asked.

Tess look puzzled. _I did... I woke you up. I guess, Sunday means something, but of course... _Tess looked at the ceiling as a dark shape darted across it. It twisted and flopped like a snake before disappearing in the bowl of the light fixture. She blinked and her eyes darted to the side._ S... Sunday...sab... oh... Huh? All well... _Her eyes returned to Frieda who was now perched on the edge of her bed.

The rug was spongy and rough on her bare feet. Tess had been the one to call attention to the fact that sleep deprivation seemed to enhance the sense of touch. Both girls had tried an experiment and discovered it to be mostly true. Then again, Frieda had started seeing strange shapes and what not by the third day, and as such had insisted on sleeping all that night and half of the following day. "They must've decided to let me sleep in after last night," Frieda was mumbling to no one in particular. Then she shrugged, dismissing this line of thought in favor of one she had been entertaining last night. "Hey, Tess, I had an idea, but if you're not comfortable with it, that's cool too."

Tess snerked and cocked her head at Frieda. "What possibly is there I that..." Tess gritted her teeth and concentrated. "What there is that..." She took a deep breath and clenched her fists in frustration, trying a shorter, simpler response. "What?"

"Well, there are three people I'd like you to meet, if it's all right with you. You could meet them one at a time, if you want." Tess was watching her expectantly and with a hint of intrigue, so Frieda went on with her explanation. "I don't know about Daisy, but I can see you hitting it off with Virgil and Richie." The bed jumped and squeaked as Tess plopped down beside Frieda and gazed intently at her. Everything in her demeanor indicated she thirsted for more details. "There's not much left to say, really," Frieda continued. "Except to ask if you want to meet them or not. So..." When Tess only waited for the actual question to be phrased, Frieda suppressed a giggle. Sometimes she wondered if Tess took things so literally on purpose or if she really didn't understand. "Do you want to meet them?"

Tess was conflicted. Any curiosity entertained about these three faceless names was merely centered around her affection for Frieda. She wanted to find out how Frieda had done for herself, who she was hanging out with now-a-days. Insight into Frieda's new friends was insight into whatever Frieda had evolved into, and that was something Tess was truly interested in getting to know. Other than that, any other human being or event was a potential chance to replenish her starved energy reserves. It was instinct to gather and squirrel away power. Tess didn't particularly enjoy existing in such a weakened and vulnerable state, either. It was just... aggravating; purely and simply frustrating. "First, pancakes," Tess answered before bouncing off the bed and trotting out the door.

X)O(X

Colors bounded everywhere; red, purple, green, and blue. There were four different ones right now, each one leaving a speed trail in its wake. Sometimes it was difficult to maintain more than four or five, and it was next to impossible to expand the size of the room much. Then again, that's why he practiced. One could have said it was a kind of meditation, but whether or not he considered it that deeply was debatable. Shiv's eyes drifted out of focus as he concentrated on forcing the walls apart as much as possible, that the room might be able to sustain more super-balls. It was a plain room, taller than it was wide, with walls that may have been stark white at one time. Now the walls (though still plain so as to maximize contrast with the rainbow of bouncing rubber spheres) had taken on a grayish hue. He pushed the walls back and experimentally added another ball, a hot pink one. Shiv had never been able to support more than five at once, but he kept hoping each time would be different. The manic meta-human grinned and turned in a slow circle to take in the streaks of color that filled the air. He added another one, a yellow one this time.

"Hey, psycho."

The balls collapsed around the blue-haired Bang Baby, bouncing and rolling to a stop with soft pattering sounds. Shiv, his disappointment with the loss of the flashy stimuli painfully evident, sat up slowly on the sleeping bag, sporting a rather sulky expression. A tall, muscular red-head with sagging khakis leaned in the arch to Shiv's room with his hands thrust in his pockets. Shiv cocked his head at the flaming red figure, the color drawing him forward, though he remained sitting. _So... shiny..._

"What're you doing?" Hotstreak asked, watching Shiv almost fall face down on his sleeping bag. Shiv jerked back up into a board-up-his-ass sitting position, beaming incessantly.

"Just thinking!" He declared cheerfully. In his mind, a red bouncy ball fell out of the sky and bounced off his mental self's head. "Ow..." Shiv rubbed the back of his head. A super ball shouldn't hurt that much, but one falling from that high up might. What was that thing called that said if you dropped a quarter off one of the Universal Commerce Buildings it could kill whoever it landed on? Terminal something...

Hotstreak raised an eyebrow. "Right..." The brick was cool against his back and tugged slightly on his shirt when he moved. He shrugged away from it and eyed the boy in the red and black jacket. How could something like staring into space be so entertaining? Hotstreak never understood it and he doubted he ever would. His eyes shifted to take in the rest of the room."Ebon's given us orders. We're s'posed to talk to rat face."

Shiv wasn't exactly sure what to expect, but he had past initiations on which to base his musings. Doubtless, Ebon was going to give Ferret a task, and send Hotstreak and Shiv along as observers. That way, if Ferret failed, the two observers could return to Ebon with an account of events. They also served as story verifiers, that is, if Ferret succeeded. Shiv had been the scout on two past missions, and quite frankly he had placed more faith in Aqua-Maria and Button than he dared to place in Ferret. All well. Ferret's performance remained to be seen. "So, what's the sitch?"

Hotstreak winced psychologically. Shiv had stopped watching Kim Possible a while ago, but he still used that ass obnoxious word. Every time the pyro heard it, he wanted to shake the mental patient by the shoulders until Shiv's teeth clicked and what little brain he may have rattled around in that dense...

Hotstreak's eyes lit up and purple smoke curled from their corners. Shiv blinked and recoiled a bit. "What?"

"Knock it off with the fucking word, that's what! I've fucking told you...!" Hotstreak took a step forward and pointed at Shiv with a flaming finger. Anger consumed his mind, burning away his Broca's area, and he trailed off with in inarticulate growl.

"W... what word?" Shiv stammered, candidly confused.

"That FUCKING-" Hotstreak felt his hair and eyebrows flare up. The explosion of light caused ghostly shapes to swirl and dip on the wall. Shiv's eyes were wide and his hands shivered in his lap. There was still a flicker of the moronic grin twitching on his lips but his lower lip was trembling. Why was the dipshit so volatile, anyway? That pissed Hotstreak off, too. Why did Shiv have to be so damn... childish? Why couldn't he grow the fuck up?

"I... I didn't mean..." Shiv squeaked. Hotstreak stormed across the room and hauled the blue-haired one up by the collar of his white t-shirt. The scrawnier meta-human squealed as the pyro began slamming him against the wall over and over again in series of sickening cracks.

Hotstreak dwelled on this little fantasy he'd spontaneously concocted for a second or two more as he glared at his team mate. Shiv still sat Indian style on his dingy sleeping bag, back straight, head cocked slightly to the left, gazing up at the pyro patiently. Hotstreak wanted to punch him right in the face sometimes, half the time, really, but he knew with Shiv it wouldn't leave nearly enough of an impression. "Just... come on," Hotstreak grumbled and turned his back on the maddeningly peaceful scene. "I don't wanna tell the same story twice." There were rustling sounds behind him as Shiv scrambled to his feet. The arsonist glowered at an innocent spider as it scuttled past his black sneakers. He lifted his right foot and brought it down with the force of a pile driver, turning the hapless arachnid into a black and gray smear.

"Hey, guess what," Shiv piped up as he bounded into the hall and fell into step beside Hotstreak.

"What?" There wasn't any malice in Hotstreak's voice, but there wasn't much genuine interest, either.

"Guess," Shiv encouraged, animatedly gesturing 'come on' with both hands.

Games like this weren't entirely appreciated in the morning. Hotstreak let out a faintly exasperated sigh and his eyes rolled up to the ceiling. He blinked and they rolled down to the floor. Finally, they shifted to the side and came to rest on Shiv. With face and voice void of emotion, he responded, "A flock of migrating manilla folders dived Dakota Union High today and ate all the paper and ink for two miles."

Shiv blinked and gaped. "Really?"

"No, dipshit, you told me to guess and I guessed."

"Oh." Disappointment darkened Shiv's expression for less than a nanosecond before the smile exploded back into place. He giggled; actually giggled, like a little school girl. "No..." He shook his head playfully, hard enough to make the hoops he wore in each ear swing against his jaw. "I had the most kick ass dream last night. Guess what it was about."

"No," was Hotstreak's simple reply.

Shiv's eyebrows drew together and his head tilted to the left. "Why not?"

"Because."

Shiv pouted and crossed his arms. "You're no fun," he muttered, staring at the floor. His buddy only grunted in response. There were a few more seconds of silence before Shiv darted out in front of Hotstreak and broke into a sort of backwards skip. "Okay, so, there was this old house, right? But it was underwater, so we couldn't get out without this special submarine kind of thing. I don't remember what happened to it, but... Oh, this was also kind of a cross over with these three movies I've seen, and... Well there was this one twisted part where this one person was in bed and all the lights in the room started going off and the ghosts..." Shiv stopped to take a breath and continued babbling before Hotstreak could interrupt. "The ghosts could only go out in the dark, so me and Ebon, wearing head lamps, 'cause for some reason we only had two headlamps, we were running to save the person, and-"

"Shiv," Hotstreak cut in, stopping in front of a arch covered with planks.

"-you were there," Shiv continued obliviously. "I mean, I don't remember you doing a lot... but you were there, too, and... Either Hyde or that one chick with the-"

"Shiv," Hotstreak repeated in a slightly louder voice.

"-sensitive ears... Tamara or somebody? Anyway, there was this part where-"

"Shiv!" Hotstreak all but bellowed. The other Bang Baby stopped jabbering and jumped, blinking and tilting his head again.

"Yes?"

"Shut. Up!"

Hotstreak's open palm slammed into his chest and Shiv stumbled back against the wall. When his back connected with the bricks, his teeth jarred and he almost bit his tongue. He managed to catch himself before he landed on his butt, but the grain of the wall grabbed his clothing and untucked the back of his white t-shirt. The pressure from the pyro's hand remained on Shiv's chest, pinning him against the wall like a butterfly. However, the red-head stormed past Shiv and into the room beyond. When the hand was gone, Shiv adjusted his clothing, not the least bit moved by what had just transpired, and trailed after the other meta-human.

Ferret, not surprisingly, had found sleep to be quite an elusive creature. Hotstreak's rejection of him, however, and fear of Ebon, had left him reluctant to leave his room. Therefore, when the other two meta-humans arrived, Ferret was in the middle of making his forty-second circuit of the chamber. He had just about every square millimeter memorized by this time. There wasn't really much to memorize. There were two dirty sheets heaped in a corner. They would have served as the bed for this place, if Ferret had wanted to sleep. Ferret had noted, a bit bitterly, that Ebon's room had contained a both a mattress and a pillow. There was a crate in the middle of the floor, which could be used as a table, chair, or rocket ship depending on the occupants fancy. There wasn't anything in the crate aside from a dust bunny or two. That was the first thing Ferret had investigated. Then he had just gone on to sort out and memorize the pictures made by the mold and dripping water.

When Hotstreak stormed in, the smaller meta-human could smell irritation on him. Judging from the exchange in the hall, Ferret knew he was treading unstable ground. "Uh, hey, guys. What's going on?" Ferret stopped pacing and glanced from one Bang Baby to the other. Hotstreak was smoldering. Shiv vaguely resembled a child who'd just been told off by the teacher, but didn't care because it was Friday and the end of school.

"Ebon's got a job for you," Shiv sang giddily and giggled.

"Oh?" Ferret tried not to look like the trapped rat he felt like.

"Yeah," Hotstreak answered. "And it's so easy, a baby with half your powers could do it." To be quite honest, Hotstreak felt like Ebon was cutting Ferret unfair slack. Then again, with a face and powers like that, it would take Ferret some serious thinking to pull it off. Yep, this would be good for a laugh...

"Come on, come on, enough with the suspense!" The way Shiv was practically bouncing off the walls, one would think it was his mission or something.

Hotstreak rolled his eyes. Shiv was almost too excitable for his own good. When he spoke again, he addressed Ferret. "The jewelry store in the mall is showcasing five hundred grand diamond necklace for a charity auction this afternoon. You're going to steal it."

Ferret was almost relieved. He'd expected something much, much worse. Then again, as he contemplated the layout of the mall, a new challenge made itself known. "But... there aren't any outside entrances to that store..."

"No shit, sherlock," Hotstreak spat back.

"So... how'm I supposed to get inside?" Ferret asked.

"That," Hotstreak grinned, "is the challenge." His grin was even worse than his scowl. "Me and Shiv'll be stationed outside the store to watch you, but," he added, glaring at the momentarily hopeful Ferret, "we can't and won't help you. If Fly Boy and Gizmo show up, you're one your own. If the mall cops catch you, you're on your own. If you can't figure out how to get in..."

"I'm on my own," Ferret finished with a sigh.

Shiv was positively enthralled by the potential entertainment value of this initiation. It was always kind of like watching a movie, especially when a fight broke out. He would be on the edge of his figurative seat, every nerve tingling with adrenaline. Would the villain win? Would the hero win? There was no way of knowing until it came right down the final scene. "So, until then, you hungry or something?" Shiv asked. He pointed over his shoulder with his thumb. "I think we've still got some Pain Go Bye-Bye Juice in the rec room."

Hotstreak snorted. "Button would say it's not a good idea to get slammed before a mission..."

Shiv's grin reappeared in its cheekiest form. "And?"

"Fuck Button," Hotstreak smirked back. He sauntered out of the room like the alpha male of a wolf pack.

Shiv started to follow him before turning back to the figure hunched alone in the room. Ferret was rubbing the back of his left hand again. He resembled nothing if not a nervous squirrel. "You coming?" Shiv asked, tilting his head.

Ferret was encouraged by this apparent acceptance, even if it was only from Shiv, who was fickle at best. The rodent meta-human scampered after the other two but couldn't think of anything to say.

X)O(X

Tess and Frieda sat across from each other. Tess was stuffing her face with the strawberry syrup soaked pancakes, as usual. The silky bread melted in her mouth. That was another reason she needed to power up soon. At this rate, she would eat the Goren's out of house and home. She didn't want to do that to Frieda, and she had no where else to go. Well, if worse came to worse, she could always hole up in one of those little cracks in the city super-villains always seemed to find. As a last resort, she could hide out in the gas station with... but no. That would be a _last_ resort.

Frieda swallowed and began cutting another bite. "So what'd you want to do today?" She asked Tess without looking up.

Tess, with equal if not greater concentration on her food, shrugged impulsively before she realized Frieda wasn't watching. "I dunno... I've been gone..."

Frieda sat back in the oak chair and tapped her fork on her plate while she thought. The clinking sound filled the silent room, but the silence was far from uncomfortable. "There's been a lot of remodeling at the mall, especially around the food court..." She point the fork at Tess as a thought occurred to her. "You know, they put in a new game and comic book store. If Richie and Virgil aren't there already, I'm sure they'd love to come along. Of course," she added hastily, "you're not obligated to let them." Tess hadn't given her a clear answer on the subject, yet, after all. Even though she had appeared enthralled while Frieda explained the idea, that didn't mean she would necessarily back the idea up.

Tess weighed the pros and cons one last time before giving a detached nod. It was hard to feel anything, really, that didn't involve Frieda or herself, but Tess wouldn't mind if the two boys tagged along. She did find herself wondering what had glued her to Frieda in the first place, but the pancakes were delicious and there was a robin at the bird feeder so she left the previous train of thought at the station. _Flying would be so kick ass..._

While Tess' mind was taking off on the wings of a red-chested bird, Frieda finished eating, stood up, and gathered her dishes into the sink. She followed her friend's line of sight for a moment before plucking the phone out of it's cradle and dialing Virgil's number. The beeps filled the kitchen but Tess remained evidently indifferent. The phone rang once, twice, three times... There was a click on the other end and a female voice answered.

"Hello? Hawkins residence."

"Hey, Sharon, it's Frieda. I don't suppose Virgil's there?"

"Hang on..." Sharon placed the phone speaker-down on her shoulder and called upstairs. "Baby brother! There's a giiirl on the phone."

In his room, Virgil had been lounging on his bed discussing potential plans with Richie. When Sharon's voice reached his ears, he jerked into a sitting position, a blush just touching his ears. Why did Sharon have to do that? What if Daisy or Frieda heard her say that? Big sisters... "Okay, okay, I've got it!" Virgil shouted back, snatching up the phone in his room and pressing the 'talk' button. Richie slouched in the computer chair across from him, laughter sparkling in his brown eyes. Virgil shot him a dirty look before saying, "Hello?"

There was a muffled click as Sharon hung up the other phone. "Virgil, it's Frieda. You doing anything right now?"

"Rich and I were tossing some plans back and forth, but we haven't decided on anything." Virgil watched his friend cock his head inquisitively, twisting the chair side to side.

Frieda twirled one finger in her hair and looked across the kitchen at Tess. The dark-haired girl was tracing patterns in the leftover syrup with her fork, now. Evidently the bird had flown away. "An old friend of mine just got into town and we're going to the mall, to check out the new comic shop. You and Richie interested in joining us?"

"I don't see why not. Hang on, I'll ask," Virgil tipped the phone away from his mouth to address Richie. "Fri's old friend's in town and they're going to the comic shop. You wanna go?"

Richie grinned. "Sounds good to me. I still need to pick up the latest issue of Spider-Man, anyway."

Virgil spoke into the phone. "Are we going to meet you there?"

Frieda contemplated Tess as she answered, "Yeah, that might be best. When can you leave?"

"Pops is at the Community Center, so any time."

Frieda tilted the phone away from her mouth. "Tess." Silver eyes met hers. "You ready to go?" Tess shrugged and slouched back in the chair, cocking her head. Frieda decided to take that as a yes. "How about we meet you in front of the mall in... about an hour?"

Virgil's smile was evident in voice. "See you then."

"Yep, ttfn."

There was a click on Frieda's end and the phone line whined. Virgil hung up the handset with his powers and turned to Richie. "Nothing short of a meta-human attack could screw up this day."

Richie smirked and shifted in the computer chair. It creaked when his weight left the back and resettled. "Careful not to jinx it. Remember we've still got Ferret and Hoodie Girl running around."

Virgil made a pish-posh gesture with his right hand as he stood up. "Oh, please, what's Ferret Face gonna do?"

If only the two adolescent super-heros had known...

X)O(X

FATR: I love cliff hangers, if you haven't figured that out yet. I know things are moving a touch slowly, but believe me, things are **_really_** going to_ **explode**_ in the next chip chip. I can't wait to write that part... It'll be so fun...

**Moonjava**: Short and to the point as usual. Not always, just usual. Thankies very much. You're very much appreciated.

**aleeok: **Lol, thanks for finishing chapter two. From what you say, you won't be here for a while, but when you do get to this chapter, thank you. I'll talk to you later, kay?

**Glamek Stalker: **Yeah! Dane Cook fan! "Suck my back! Suck my back!" Lol, he's awesome... I hope you enjoyed the little taste of Ferret's task. Naturally, nothing **_ever_** goes according to plan, does it? I'm watching the site, of course, but let me know when that fic you talked about comes up. Now, you didn't answer my question last time, and I'm dying to know... I mean, what is a Glamek? And why are you stalking it? What's your screen name mean, girl? Penguin Peace until next time.

**benny2000: **Aw, I'm so flattered /hugs/. Again, it's moving slowly but I promise a demonstration of Tess' powers in the next chapter. The next chapter is going to rock, just you wait.

**lt. commander richie: **I'm not sure who the green thing is, yet. It did cross my mind that it might be Leech. It most likely will be, but the explanation figures into the next chapter, so we'll find out for sure then. You're right, too, it does sound better than Captain Richie. Oh, and I read "Nobody Cares." I tried to review but the thingy was being weird, so I'll ask my question here and comment officially later: Who was the girl in the poem?

I'll close with what I said to Glamek Stalker: Penguin Peace until next time!


	6. New Evil and Shopping Hell

FATR: Look at the scroll bar. Just take a minute and look. See how long that is? Hahaha, yep, this chip chip is even longer than any oneshot I've ever written. It's kind of... two or three chapters put together. First of all, there were some parts I absolutely had to write before I got too far into the story time wise. I also wanted to write them now for **LadyKayoss**. Then I had to keep my promise to **benny2000**Long story short? This chapter is one long ass mother fucker, but I feel it's a good chapter, so it evens out. I'm also beginning to question the rating. Please let me know your thoughts on that. I don't own anything except Tess. Really, I don't. I have a couple of Child's Play and Nightmare on Elm Street comics sitting on my horror movie shelf, but I don't own the rights to anything. I'm so broke... Now, go get started on tackling this biatch, and leave me some kickass reviews.

X)O(X

He woke up in the dark with the smell of antiseptic tingling his olfactory sense. The room wasn't overly cold, but he could feel the air caressing his bare chest and arms. He could also feel a sheet covering him from the hips down. It was crisp and cool against his bare skin. That's when he realized, with immense confusion and just a touch of indignation, that he was completely nude. This drew his mind into clearer focus, in turn allowing him to realize he couldn't seem to feel anything in his midsection aside from a strange... coiling and uncoiling sensation in his sides.

"... vital signs?"

"Stable..."

The voices just touched his auditory sense but he couldn't make much of their meaning. They were far away, like they were coming from underwater. He assured himself it was because his mind wasn't fully awake yet. From what he _could_ smell, feel, and hear, it sounded like he might be in a hospital. He strained to understand the voices, concentrating on that one thing. It was difficult as the persistent darkness was beginning to threaten his sanity.

"...ative. Dr. Octopus is still..."

_Octopus? What? _He groaned and forced his cracked lips and dry throat to croak, "I'm... Otto... Why did you..."

The two doctors jumped and whipped around to stare at the prone figure in the hospital bed. A thick white bandage encircled his head, layered thickly over his eyes. "You said he wasn't awake," the older accused the younger one.

"Why?" Dr. Otto Octavius pressed. His nails dug into his palms as his fists clenched, trembling with the tension in his muscles. "Why did you call me that?"

The young physician dodged a metallic tentacle as it lashed out randomly, pulling against the restraint that held it to the bed.

No one was talking to him. Being ignored irritated him more than anything else about this situation. His anger lent power to his weakened voice. "I'm Otto!" He shouted and slammed his fists on the mattress. "Why did you call me Dr. Octopus?"

The doctors backed away a few nervous steps as all four of the arms lashed out at once. The elder recovered first. "Dr. Octavius, please calm down. You're in good hands, I assure you."

Otto forced the panicked hysteria to leave his voice and slowly unwound his bunched muscles. There was no reason to let these imbeciles know how disoriented and lost he really felt. _This would be more tolerable if I could see... _"Tell me where I am," he commanded in a low, frigid voice.

"Don't you remember?" The youth inquired.

The tentacles twitched dangerously so the older doctor jumped in with, "You're in a hospital. You've been in a coma ever since the explosion at the Oscorp lab. Do you remember any of it?"

Otto would have closed his eyes to think about it if it hadn't been so dark. Then again, maybe he had never opened them in the first place, or maybe they were open and he was blind and... The biochemist took a breath and forced himself to relax. What had happened? He'd always considered himself so level headed... Explosion... Explosion... He couldn't remember anything about an explosion. He couldn't even really remember what he'd been working on with Osborn. "I can't remember," he whispered. "I can't remember anything." There was a pause. "Which hospital is this?"

The two doctors exchanged nervous glances. They took a few wary steps away from the four metal arms before the younger spoke. "We're... not permitted to divulge the location..."

Otto's other senses had begun correcting and heightening for the loss of sight, and he heard them back away before speaking. He heard the tremor in their voices when they spoke. They were afraid of him. Why? What had happened? Why couldn't he _see_? _I mustn't lose myself, now. I must hold together. They _cannot_ be allowed to know how... _"What? And why not?" He snapped, trying to sit up. Something around his middle pulled and he had to lay back down.

"Please remain calm, doctor." The older one tried to temper the increasingly hazardous situation. One subconscious whack from the metal snakes writhing on the floor could finish him and his colleague. "You're in a government owned facility, and we've been ordered to keep the name of said facility under wraps for the time being. You've been in a coma for approximately four months. Now that you're awake, we'll alert our superiors, and someone will be down to counsel you before the day's out. Until then, it is imperative that you remain calm. Alright?"

_Government facility? Counsel? What happened to me?_ There was something inside him whispering that he couldn't trust these people, but until he knew what was going on there was nothing he could do except relax and wait. "Alright," he answered

The younger one eyed the tentacles carefully. They seemed to vibrate with tension despite Otto's conscious compliance. "Would you like something to help you relax?"

"No," Otto answered curtly.

"Get some rest, doctor," the older one insisted on his way to the door.

Otto snorted and laughed. "What, I haven't gotten enough rest, already?"

The other two doctors looked at each other nervously. The older doctor sent a mute order to his underling. Out loud, he promised, "We'll be back as soon as we can."

Otto listened to the door open and shut then settled back in the pillows to wait. His ears picked up soft clicking sound, like plastic being flicked. It was a sound that any seasoned doctor would recognize. It was the sound of bubbles being flicked to the top a plastic syringe.

The younger doctor pushed the plunger and a fine spray of the sedative spattered his latex gloved hand. He cast a nervous glance at the man in the bed. Dr. Octavius hadn't spoken but his head was cocked in a manner that demonstrated he was listening intently. The younger doctor felt his heart thundering in his chest and hoped the other man couldn't hear it. _That's insane, of course he can't... _He made his way around to the IV bag on the opposite side of the cot. His feet lifted carefully over the metallic creatures curling and uncurling on the floor. There was still no reaction from the scientist turned patient, but that didn't make the physician any less uneasy. He reached for the tube but just as he was about to slip the needle into the injection port Otto's voice shattered the silence.

"What are you doing?"

A tentacle curled toward his foot and bumped the side of his shoe. The physician forced himself not to jump and instead went on with administering the sedative. Could he feel through the metal appendages as well? If so, what on earth could be going through his head right then? "It's an antibiotic," the young doctor lied. He thought he sounded pretty convincing. The needle slid out and he clipped the port closed. Well, he thought he'd gotten away with it, but as he turned to exit, the actuator still against his shoe lifted and tightened around his ankle. This again caused the physician to wonder just how aware of the four extra limbs Otto was at that point. If he was consciously aware of them, he was amazingly calm about it.

"Why?"

The doctor cringed as another tentacle lifted off the ground and snapped its claws inches from his face. This was a bad situation, very bad. "You were injured in the accident. Better safe than sorry, right?" The young man could see his reflection, white as a sheet, in the gleaming claw. It still hovered in his face, like a serpent debating a mouse. He remained perfectly still.

Otto spoke, controlling his voice carefully. "I gathered that, but what..." He trailed off. Why bother wasting his breath on this blithering moron? Besides, there were other things to worry about, such as what had kindled the explosion in the first place. He had a feeling it was important... _Why... why am I so tired? I shouldn't... He... he sedated me anyway! That little parasite sedated... _"What have you done?"

The artificial appendage around his ankle constricted and one of the machine's surrounding them began beeping frantically. "N-nothing, I don't know what you..."

"You grotesque... little worm... I'll... I'll..."

The young doctor cringed and shielded his face with his arms as the snake reared back to strike. He felt the pressure on his ankle decrease as the tentacle's grip slackened. His arms lowered and his eyes observed the biologist relaxing a little at a time, though he appeared to be fighting it. The machine that had been beeping furiously before quieted to a calmer, more rhythmic pattern as Otto's heart rate dropped to that of sleep. Immediately seizing on the opportunity to escape, the physician scuttled out of the weakened appendage's grip and slipped into the hall. He leaned against the closed door, waiting for his own heartbeat to drop to normal. Only when the adrenaline abated did he notice the dull throbbing in his ankle. He knelt and lifted his pants leg, rolling his sock out of the way. There was an encircling bruise forming already. He hadn't realized the tentacle had been squeezing that hard... Well, there was no way in hell anyone would get him back into the same room as the patient the doctors had jokingly dubbed Dr. Octopus. _Let Pym and his people deal with it. I'm so out of here. I mean, screw dad. I really should've stuck with dancing... _He strode away down the hall as quickly as he could without being obvious.

X)O(X

The pressure of Shiv's hand between his shoulder blades was starting to get incredibly obnoxious, even by Ferret's standards; Ferret, who had learned to swallow what few shreds of pride he had left and be everybody's doormat; Ferret, who was by nature easygoing and mild-tempered.

Shiv was herding him excitedly down the tunnel. In the distance, Ferret could smell the smoggy yet somehow pure city air, even though he was blindfolded. It was preferable to the stagnant tunnel air, and definitely preferable to the wreak of that rotting thing. Who left something like that laying around to pollute what little air there was, anyway? He probably didn't want to know, but then again... "What... Who... What was that?"

"What was what?" Hotstreak asked distractedly. His main focus was on the seemingly ever-present ball of fire with which he liked to fidget. The closer the small party came to the surface, the brighter the flame burned. That, and he'd noticed drinking alcohol seemed to boost his powers somewhat. Hey, it was an excuse to drink before going out, even though the others were only half convinced.

Hotstreak seemed to be in a better mood. Ferret didn't understand why, especially since he could smell fire, but he wouldn't question his luck, especially since he could smell fire. "The dead body."

"Leech," Hotstreak answered. "He's got a bad history with me and Ebon. We... well, me and Shiv, showed the sucker what was what, and left him there as a warning. Keeps others out, too, you know? Gotta be crazy to venture too far into a tunnel when there're dead people about."

Ferret had to agree. The smell alone would've forced him to turn back long before he saw the body. Fortunately, going back over it he'd had time to catch and hold his breath. "When can I take off the blind fold?"

"When we say," Shiv answered cheerfully. He became tipsy easier when he drank before five in the evening, but he wouldn't let it spoil his mood. Hell, he usually felt a bit lightheaded and floaty, anyway. It was great. He figured it was as close as he'd ever get to flying. _Lucky Hostreak..._

"Oh." Silence settled over the group once again, but Ferret was growing used to it by now. It stretched on and on and on. Ferret tried to ignore Shiv's irritating pushing and shoving by focusing on the smells of civilization. As they grew even closer, he could smell a myriad of perfumes and colognes, ranging from expensive brand names he couldn't even begin to pronounce to cheap dollar store stuff. Forever and a day later, they stopped walking and Shiv grabbed his shoulders to indicate that he should do the same. Shiv kind of freaked him out if he though about it too hard... Light flooded his world as the blindfold was removed. He stood there blinking until his eyes adjusted. They were standing at the foot of some stairs in a rundown subway station. "Condemned" tape hung in the entrance like yellow streamers. He turned to his companions, both of which wore hooded jackets. "What're you gonna do if they knock the place down?" Ferret asked.

It was a stupid, irrelevant question. The stupidity and irrelevance of it hit a nerve in the pyro. Wasn't Shiv stupid and irrelevant enough for the entire gang? "Shut up and listen," Hotstreak growled. He reached behind him and his hand closed around something tucked in his back pocket. It was wrapped in a green rag. "Have you ever used a gun?"

Ferret felt a rock settle in his stomach. He wasn't quite sure he liked where this was going. "Yes..."

Hotstreak thrust the concealed weapon toward the smaller meta-human. When Ferret hesitated, he hissed, "Take it."

"Yeah," Shiv snickered. "You get more points for a body count."

Ferret closed trembling hands around the package, not sure if Shiv was kidding or not. He unwrapped it partially and studied its obsidian surface. Whether or not Shiv was joking, Ferret decided not to use the gun unless he absolutely had to use it.

X)O(X

Tess fiddled uncomfortably with one of the chains that hung low around her hips. She snuck a glance at Frieda, noting the pink tank top and flip flops. Pink had always been Frieda's favorite color, and it did look good on her. Her eyes slid down the soft arm and landed on the pink, flower shaped watch. Frieda saw her looking and inspected the watch, too.

"They're not late, yet." She smiled at Tess. "Don't forget, patience is a virtue."

Tess crossed her arms and kicked at the ground with a black sneaker. The silver gel pen she'd decorated them with, though faded, glinted at her. Ants scattered before her toe, and she found herself wondering what the ants must be thinking. What would it be like to be so small? Her eyes shifted to Frieda's feet as she tried to imagine what it would be like to be as small as an ant. The pink soles of those sandals alone would have to be as big as mountains. Tess gazed into the sky as she pictured a giant pink sandal with a foot and a leg stretching up into the wild blue yonder. _It might be fun to lift hundreds of times my weight, but I wouldn't _"... want to be that small..."

"What was that?" Frieda asked. Her hair shifted softly against her back as she turned her head. It caught the suns rays and threw them back in a silky light show of red and dark gold.

"Ants," Tess shrugged and nodded at the diminutive commune scuttling around the toes of her shoes. "Too small."

Frieda followed her friend's gaze and watched the glossy black insects scrambling among the miniature weeds and grains of sand. The cracks must've been like ravines way down there. Their antenna waved furtively, desperately picking out the invisible trails of those who had gone before them. Stay in line, stay close to your peers, it's safer there... "I disagree. What about Them?"

Tess snickered. "Hooray for B horror movies."

A city bus stopped just outside the main parking lot and two teenagers squeezed out with the rest of the crowd. It seemed like everyone had decided to visit the mall that afternoon. The teenagers, Virgil and Richie, had contemplated flying there and changing in an alley, but neither had wanted to wear his costume under his clothing in this inferno. As it was, Richie wore a plain green t-shirt instead of the usual sweatshirt, and still thought he would die from heat exhaustion. Something in his head whispered that the discomfort would have been worth it to have their costumes with them, but he ignored it. They were off duty. Besides, what could really happen? All of the heavy hitters were either lying low or behind bars.

"Hey, there they are." Frieda pointed across the crowded parking lot.

Tess looked up at the two youths picking their way through the gleaming sea of cars. One was blond, dress in earthy tones, but she didn't really care about him. No, there was something about the African-American in the Super-Man t-shirt that struck her. Something about his hair, maybe? She saw dread locks everywhere, though, so why it should mean anything... well, meant nothing. Without thinking about it, Tess pulled up her hood and stuffed her hands deep in the kangaroo pouch.

"So what'd you do?" Richie was asking Virgil.

Virgil's eyes darted around before he leaned inconspicuously closer to his best friend and whispered conspiratorially, "I gave the blender a little zap and dad had to take us out to eat. Barely missed that one, though."

Richie had to laugh, even as he admonished, "You should be more careful."

"It was self defense," Virgil protested throwing his hands out, palms up.

Richie smirked and snickered. "Right, self defense."

"Hey, your mom's a good cook. If you were in my position, you would've done the same thing..." Virgil trailed off as he scanned the crowd for Frieda. He was curious as to who this old friend might be, especially since Frieda had never mentioned her before. The heat shimmered in the air, retreating with every step they took like a mirage. He could recall viewing Hotstreak through the wavering, no-quite-there wall more than once. A sticky hand brushed his hair out of his damp face and he wondered why he wasn't used to this yet.

Frieda watched Virgil scan the front of the mall. Richie was apparently too busy laughing into his hand to look up. The auburn-haired teen gripped the strap of her pink Hello Kitty purse in one hand and waved wildly with the other. "Virgil! Richie! Over here!" Virgil's eyes locked with hers for a moment and he flashed her his megawatt grin, returning the wave.

Virgil's dark eyes shifted from the ray of pink sunshine to the hunched figure next to her. The grin remained for show, though it had faded to a shadow of its former illumination. He stopped walking and gripped Richie's shoulder. Silver eyes gazed back at him from the shadow of the black hood. "Richie..."

Richie eyes also fell on Frieda's companion. The dark figure contrasted sharply with the sunlight and the summer colors milling around her. He blinked, entertaining the idea that the heat might be getting to him. "You don't think that's..."

"I wouldn't completely dismiss the theory," Virgil admitted, taking in the sight. Something in those eyes seemed to be slowly tightening a vice around his stomach. Heck, for all he knew, that's exactly what she was doing. "Then again, you're the one with the photographic memory."

"That's true..." Richie started slowly as he found his pace again. "But there are a lot of girls who own black hoodies..." This was said mostly as a failed attempt to comfort himself; mainly because if there was trouble, the two heros wouldn't be entirely prepared. It wouldn't be the first time, but it wouldn't be pretty, either.

Virgil was going to reply but by then they were too far into ear shot to even whisper. "Frieda, what's up?" He greeted cheerfully and bumped fists with her. Virgil once more turned his head towards the dark patch in the summer afternoon. She was watching something on the ground intently, but all the male teen could see were ants. "Who's your friend?" The eyes flicked up from the pavement, but paused once more over Virgil's t-shirt.

Frieda put a hand on Tess' shoulder and smiled warmly. "This is Tess Escher. Tess," she paused a space to make sure Tess was paying attention. "This is Virgil Hawkins, and his shadow is Richie Foley." She was pleased to see a smile quirk Tess' lips.

"Haha." The blond teenager rolled his eyes behind his glasses, but smiled never the less. His inventive center was turning her name over in his head, subconsciously trying to connect it to her powers. Richie wasn't ever aware of the thought processes, though. His brain acted like a computer. It processed the data beyond his mind's eye, and only spit out the result when it was finished. "What's up, Tess?" He stuck his fist out. Tess' gaze flicked upwards then down to his hand. She raised an eyebrow at him but her hands stayed in the pocket of her sweatshirt. Richie let his hand fall to his side and disappear into his own pocket. "So..."

Frieda forced herself not to laugh, even as Virgil sent her a look that said '_Is she serious?_' To be honest, there were times not even Frieda was quite sure what went on in Tess' head. "Come on. It'll be cooler inside." The glass door swung open and the blessed air conditioning washed over her skin.

X)O(X

He floundered in the dark sea, completely disoriented. There was no up and everywhere was up at the same time. Selecting a direction, he thrashed forward wildly, hoping to break the surface. There was something heavy around his middle, though; something that held him back. If there had been a down, he imagined that's the direction it would have been pulling him. However, as directionless as this environment was, the weight only served to keep him firmly in place. When consciousness did finally began to drift back into place Otto had a tremendous headache and nausea swam in his stomach. There was a different blanket on him now, though he was still naked. This blanket was warmer, with more weight to it. The bed was much more comfortable, too, and he was propped into a sitting position. He could also sense a presence on the bed not his own and hear whispers around him. "Ugh... Hel... Hello?"

Dr. Pym was seated on the edge of the bed. He had brown hair and understanding brown eyes, which were often a blessing with some of the more difficult patients that passed through. After discussing the particulars of Otto's earlier awakening with the two that had been present for it, Pym knew he'd have to proceed with extreme caution. This was especially true after Dr. Simms' underhanded trick with the sedative. It was hard enough to get a panicked... accident victim to calm down and trust the doctors. Especially accident victims that hadn't quite come to terms with their new... abilities just yet. Pym just sincerely hoped the armed guards were an unnecessary precaution. Fortunately, this particular case couldn't see them. Maybe this would go smoother than expected. Maybe. "Aah, good, you're awake." Dr. Pym smiled, knowing facial expressions were always apparent in one's voice. "I offer my sincerest apologies for Dr. Simms' actions, but we _really _need to talk..."

Otto remembered it now. He remembered the other doctor deceiving him and lying to him. Why should he trust this man any more than the others? "Who are you people? What do you want with me?" He demanded. For the time being, he was too distracted with his surroundings to think about the odd sensations in his middle.

Dr. Pym leaned away from a tentacle, keeping his voice optimistic and soothing. "I'm Dr. Pym, Otto. First of all, there's no need to be frightened. You're quite safe here. No one wants to hurt you, no one will hurt you. We're just looking out for your health."

The vaguely grim quality of Dr. Pym's voice was even more unsettling than the fear in Dr. Simms' voice had been earlier. However, there was something soothing about the voice, so Otto took a deep breath and tried to stop his stomach from swimming. That was the odd thing, though, the fact that he couldn't feel his stomach. He could feel his _stomach_, yes (and he wished he couldn't), but he couldn't feel the bed or the sheet or the air...

"Second of all," Dr. Pym continued gently when Otto only listened, "you've... you've suffered severe trauma to your optic nerve..."

"What?" Otto jerked out of his daze and turned his head towards what he figured to be the source of the voice. _I really am blind? Oh, god, I'm blind! I'm..._

The artificial appendages rose up and snapped their claws furiously. The man sitting on the edge of the bed resisted the urge to scoot to a safer distance. There was no reason to further fry the scientist's nerves. There was also no reason to make Otto feel like a friendless freak. To do either of those things could be detrimental at this point. "You're not blind," Dr. Pym reassured and was relieved to see the claws relax. "However, you can't tolerate bright lights."

"Oh, no..." Otto put a hand over his face, suddenly overwhelmed by dizziness. His finger tips encountered the soft gauze that protected his damaged eyes. This was horrible. He hadn't thought it would be possible, but the sickness in his stomach intensified. "I... I think I'm... going to throw up..." He moved his free hand to his stomach and, in a moment, all of his physical discomforts were forgotten. He patted the cold, hard metal, mind reeling with questions. "What..." His hand slid down the curve to his side and encounter the base of something cylindrical. It was a familiar shape, a familiar feeling, and he knew under normal circumstances he would recognize... "What have you done?" His voice rose until it was a shout that echoed off the walls. He felt Pym jump up but didn't care. "What have you done to me?" The darkness, the silent observers all around him, and he couldn't remember... He couldn't... It was too much...

"Otto, you remember your arms... The ones you published that paper about, that you use for your more delicate experiments...Well, uh..." Dr. Pym hesitated, trying to pick out the most delicate way to described the situation.

Of course he remembered that! He wasn't stupid! What were these people not telling him? Why wouldn't they just tell him what had happened?

"They're on you, right now. They've... They seemed to have fused to you during the explosion. We've been monitoring the healing process, and your skin has been growing around the harness. The arms have become locked into your central nervous system." Dr. Pym couldn't control the excitement rising in his voice, try as he might. Then again, appealing to Otto's scientific side might help. "We haven't figured out the exact mechanics of the bonding, but the arms have been responding to your every command, conscious _and_ unconscious. They have an organic..."

"Tell me where I am," Otto interrupted. He couldn't take anymore of this drivel and secrecy. If there was anything Otto Octavius hated most in the world, it was not knowing. Not knowing was even worse than being ignored.

Dr. Pym glanced at the older doctor from before. "I'm sorry, but we're not authorized to..."

Otto clench his teeth and slammed his fists down again, this time shoving himself into a sitting position. "I know. You're 'not authorized' to tell _me_, the _victim_, where I'm being held! I don't care! I didn't ask to be here!"

Another doctor that had remained silent up until point spoke. His slate hair was cold in the low lighting of the room. The glasses that hid his eyes behind thick layers of glass were even colder. "I know this is hard to hear, Otto."

That was it. He couldn't take not knowing anymore. The darkness... the absence of feeling... the writhing and... and the darkness. Just... the _darkness_! "Remove the bandages," he suddenly ordered in a just as suddenly level voice.

"Sir," the bespectacled doctor protested, "your eyes..."

His nails dug into the soft mattress and he gritted his teeth. Rage coursed through his veins and pounded in his heart and head. "Take them off!" Otto howled.

The older doctor silently sought Pym's permission before dimming the lights. He dodged around the metallic arms and hesitantly untaped the bandages. Despite the horrifying things that had gone through the place, he was reluctant to look into Otto's eyes.

The pressure around his head loosened and the bandages dropped away little by little. The tickling sensation against is face, cheeks, and ears would have been relaxing under normal circumstances, but these circumstances were everything but normal. Otto wasn't sure if the situation had reached the peak of its surrealism or not, though, and that frightened him. Lines of light sliced across his vision. When the bandage was gone, Otto finally had a more or less clear view of those around him. The contrast between light and shadow was unnaturally exaggerated, lending a hellish cast to the whole room. There were men with guns off to the side. _Safe? Yeah, sure, right..._

But Otto's curiosity and aching desire to _know_ overrode everything else. His eyes drifted down to the bright patch around his middle and his world stopped. Words left him entirely, his breath stuck in his lungs, and his muscles locked up. Fresh pink scar tissue was sending tendrils over the edges and through the clasp of the harness. One side had grown all the way down to the base of the upper right arm. It wasn't climbing the arm, but it was sending more tendrils out across the harness. A trembling hand lifted, almost of it's own accord, for Otto's conscious mind was still refusing to respond, and ran across the mess before his eyes. He could feel the touch against the skin creeping over the metal. He could _feel_ it! "Oh my god..." he moaned in shock.

"We're just now beginning to understand the genetics of what happened. There's a paper by Dr. Reed..."

But Otto wasn't listening to anyone right now. He gasped for breath and his heart thundered in his ears. This wasn't happening... This wasn't happening... But it was. It was real. The blindingly bright metal under his palms was real. The fresh tissue was real. The bed and the surreal faces that drifted around him in the strange shadows were real. "OH MY GOD!"

"Please," Dr. Pym interjected. "I know this is a devastating thing to discover." He gestured towards the man in the glasses. "Dr. Lange is here to talk to you about it, guide you through the transition. We hope the scientist in you will be able to find the exciting possibilities that this accident has brought into all of our lives. We can all work together to find out what this discovery means and what it holds for the future of-"

Otto slowly raised his head. Anger narrowed his vision to two fine points. Maybe someone of lesser intellect would have been fooled by their word choice, but Otto could see between the lines. Hell, he had _written_ most of those lines negotiating with and talking down animal rights activists. Well, he _wasn't_ an animal, and he wouldn't be experimented on no matter how these halfwits tried to spin it. "So what you're saying is that I was _found_ like this... then _left_ like this... to see what would _happen_?" The uncomfortable silence that followed answered all of his questions. They didn't want to help, and they didn't care about his well-being. He was aware of the claws that rose into a striking position behind him, but he didn't even try to stop it. The fear and discomfort in the doctors' eyes sent gratifying rushes through his body. "That _is_ what you're saying, yes?" He continued in a sinisterly low voice. "You _could_ have gotten these arms off me, but you _decided_ _not_ to." Hysteria tainted his voice and he didn't care. "Who the _hell_ are you?"

"We're not allowed to..." Dr. Pym began weakly.

"Anger is normal, Otto." Dr. Lange still hoped to salvage some control, even as the actuators loomed. "You shouldn't feel ashamed of that emotion."

Otto glared at Dr. Lange. The man's eyes were little more than bright white circles to him. Otto could feel himself teetering on the brink of an abyss. The nature of the abyss was a mystery, but it was deep and dark and if he fell it would be a long way down. He wasn't afraid of the abyss, though, and he wasn't the least bit ashamed of his anger. "Be quiet!" He growled.

Dr. Lange wouldn't be intimidated. He was the physician, he had the clipboard, and he was sure he could remedy the situation. "It's important to remember that you need not blame yourself. This very well could be a blessing in--"

Blame himself? How stupid did these people think he was? He didn't blame himself. He blamed _them_! Something in Otto's head snapped, then. He heard it. Something snapped and his footing gave way and he tumbled over the edge. "I SAID BE QUIET!" There was the feeling of something uncoiling in his side again, but this time it was sharper. It didn't hurt. Oh, no. It felt good. It was the best feeling he'd had in a long time, even better than seeing the doctors looking trapped and afraid. Several things happened in the next two seconds, but for Otto they happened in glorious slow motion.

The armed guards raised their the guns. There wasn't even time for the click of the weapons being cocked to finish echoing. Two claws snapped open with a soft shinking sound and drove into the guns, crumpling them in the guards' hands. The motion continued forwards, driving the twisted metal into and through the men's abdomens. There was a satisfying crunch as ribs and spines snapped. While this was going on, a third tentacle sliced through Dr. Lange's chest. It was like punching through a Cadbury Egg. The nauseating impacts trembled down the artificial limbs and Otto could actually feel the squish. The accompanying adrenaline rush was almost arousing. Almost. Otto noticed the two remaining doctors making a mad dash for the door. One of them was pulling out a radio to call for back up. That wouldn't do, not in even the remotest sense. The only tentacle left unstained lashed out and up, eviscerating the unlucky victim before he could even press the button. The feeling of the claws tearing so _easily_ through flesh made Otto tremble with repulsive elation. A quick flick to the right and Otto had snagged Dr. Pym by the ankle, just inches from the safety of the door.

Dr. Pym's head whirled as he was plucked off the ground like a rag doll. His heart leaped into his throat while is stomach dove for his feet. The world dipped and raced around him for a moment and then he was face to face with a macabre scene. Otto stood with one free organic hand gripping the sheet around his waist. The three tentacles writhed behind him as though they were independent creatures. Blood dripped from the bodies still speared on the ends. Pym knew the claw gripping his ankle was also bright crimson, though he couldn't see it. The entire portrait of destruction was upside down, and that somehow managed to exacerbate the horror. The physician froze like a deer in the headlights as he was drawn inexorably closer to those gleaming, demonic eyes. _So, this is what it's like to stare death in the face_, flashed through his reeling brain. The motion halted and Pym found himself suspended at eye level, inches from the biochemist's face. There were thumps around him as the other tentacles shook off their burdens.

"Who are you working for?" Otto hissed.

Dr. Pym sputtered and stammered before deciding there was no use in resisting. Rules and regulations had gone out the window the instant the slaughter had started. There was only one thing he could do, now, to make sure he wasn't next. "L-look, Otto, it's a complex... network..." The claw on his ankle tightened threateningly. "I'm... We have more than one agency handling the mu... uh... these kinds of cases..." The world dipped and twisted again as the arm launched him across the room. The wall knocked the air out of his lungs in one soft grunt. Just as suddenly, a dripping claw latched around his throat and hauled him off the ground. The cold, slick blood made Pym ill.

"Do _not_ test my patience, insolent pest," Otto spat. "I'll not hesitate dispatch you, as well."

Pym raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "I... I really don't... Fury's the big dog on these matters, but..." There was a jerk and Pym once again found himself eye to eye with the tentacled maniac.

"Fury?"

Pym gulped, uncomfortably aware of the metal constricting his neck. "Y-yeah... Nick Fury."

Otto scrutinized the pest dangling in front of him. He needed a plan and fast, before anyone decided to drop in and investigate the source of the screams. However, he was still high on the coppery scent of blood, and rage and hate and denial and confusion still pounded his skull, inhibiting reason. Somewhere in the back of all this, he wondered if Tesseract had ever felt this way after a kill. If only he could've harnessed her powers before she managed to escape. She was most likely dead, now... Then again, a year wasn't all _that _long. Perhaps she'd found a hole to crawl into somewhere. He remembered her resilience and will power... It all clicked into place in one glorious epiphany. Once the ball began rolling, his plans took on lives of their own.

First, though, he had to escape. Clothing was first priority. Dr. Lange had been wearing black slacks. Good. That meant the blood wouldn't show quite so much. He stripped Lange to his skivies and took the pants one leg at a time. All of his actions were mechanical and distracted, but at least he was functioning. He held up the bloody shirt and frowned before casting it aside. Next he needed to shield his eyes. One actuator plucked the dark glasses off the nearest guard's face. Otto examined the glasses distastefully. They were a short cry from radiation goggles or the like; far too cyber-cop-esque for the biochemist's taste. No matter. They'd do for now. Until he could safely test the debilitating power of this new handicap, it was safest to take all precautions. He slid the glasses on leisurely while another claw sought out the light switch.

Dr. Pym felt icy daggers slice through his soul when the obsidian lenses turned to him. They were black holes in the pallid, serene face.

"You," Otto whispered, "are coming with me."

X)O(X

"I'm hungry."

Hotstreak resolutely ignore Shiv. He wished with all his might that he could take solace in the golden warmth of his powers, but they were too far into the inhabited part of the city for that. Even though they traveled in the back alleys (for greater ease of smuggling Ferret), it was a risk he couldn't take right then.

"I could really go for some doughnuts right now," Shiv continued thoughtfully. He thrust his hands into the pockets of the blue hooded sweatshirt and watched the sparse clouds sail by overhead. Hotstreak had taken the red hooded sweatshirt again, much to Shiv's fleeting disappointment. No matter, though, because with Hotstreak one had to pick his battles. The blue-haired Bang Baby pulled in an excited breath and his eyes sparkled. "You know what I haven't had in forever? Pocky!"

Now, Ferret didn't have the Shiv experience that Hotstreak possessed. Hotstreak knew how to recognize a senseless rant while it was brewing. The best way to avoid senseless rants was to ignore them and wait for Shiv's ADD tendencies to kick in. Ferret had always been the curious type. "Pocky?" Ferret asked.

"Yes, pocky. You've never heard of..." The blank look on Ferret's face spoke volumes. Shiv happily launched into his rant. "It's like... It's like a pop tart, only it's a stick, and it doesn't have the filling... And the cookie part is exactly the same either... Okay, so it's nothing like a poptart, really, but it still rocks! You see, it's got frosting, and it's stick shaped, and it comes in Strawberry and chocolate and..."

Ferret edged slowly away from Shiv, casting a 'what do I do' glance at Hotstreak. Hotstreak wasn't paying attention. Ferret noticed an interesting thing, though. Shiv's voice was usually normal enough, but when the unbalanced meta-human got worked up about something, his voice rose in pitch.

Shiv continued babbling the rest of the way, gesturing adamantly. His rant drew to a close with, "It's like... Like an orgasm... On a stick! That's it! An orgasm on a stick in my mouth!"

Ferret almost choked when he heard this last exclamation. Yes, Shiv definitely and completely freaked him out.

Hotstreak stopped dead in his tracks. His ears were scarred for life, not doubt about that. Why did the end of the rant have to be the one part he couldn't tune out? The pyro slowly turned to look at Shiv. Shiv was staring back with a look of utter confusion on his face. "Dude..."

"What?"

Hotstreak shook his head slowly. "No. Just... no."

"What'd I do?" Shiv pressed, scampering to catch up as Hostreak and Ferret strode purposefully away.

"No," Hotstreak repeated, covering his ears. "I don't want to hear a peep out of you for at least an hour."

"But-" Shiv started to protest then let his head drop. "Okay. You won't hear another peep... Mm... Peeps..."

Ferret sent Hotstreak another alarmed look as Shiv trailed off into his own marshmallow coated thoughts. Hotstreak returned a warning look and firmly shook his head. By then the mall could be seen peering through the other buildings. The rag tag group stopped and the red-head turned to Ferret.

"So..."

The rather horse-faced Bang Baby looked up at the pyro. Without even realizing it, Ferret had already begun rubbing the back of his left hand again. "So?"

"We'll see you inside." Hotstreak couldn't help adding with an evil smirk, "Maybe." He jerked up the hood to cover his trademark hair and zipped the jacket half way. Shiv followed suit.

Ferret shook his head, trying to boost up his confidence. "No, I'm all over this. I'm all over this like... like..."

"Sugar on a Peep?" Shiv asked, cocking his head. The rough elbow in the ribs from Hotstreak only made Shiv laugh. "Good luck, rat man," Shiv beamed and waved. "You'll need it." He skipped off after Hotstreak and disappeared through the double glass doors. With that, Ferret was left to his own devices.

"Okay, think, think, think..." He leaned against the wall next to a cluster of trash cans. Lord, they wreaked, but he had to think about the task at hand. He couldn't just smash his way in like Kangor or Hyde would have done. He didn't possess that kind of power. There was the gun, still wrapped in the green rag, tucked in the back of his pants. The ammunition of a gun was limited, so he couldn't just walk in and shoot people until he reached his prize. He didn't really want to do that anyway. It wasn't a lie when he told Hotstreak he'd used a gun before. Ferret wasn't a bad shot, either (he could take down all of the ducks in carnival shooting galleries), but he'd never fired a gun at an actual _person_.

He tilted his head back and closed his eyes. _All right. What can I do with my powers? What, creatively, can I do with my powers? I'm faster than average. True, I'm not The Flash or anything, but I can almost out run Static on his disk, and I can _certainly_ outrun a couple of fat ass rent-a-cops. That's what I do best, after all. Run. _Ferret tiptoed to the mouth of the alley and sniffed the air out of habit. His beady eyes flicked over the large white structure just across the way. He would have to find an outside entrance close to the jewelry story and just haul ass. Of course, there couldn't possibly be an external entrance that close. _Well..._ He looked down at himself. _I'm also small, and I can climb. Maybe I could sneak around back and find an air duct or something. Yes, there we go. This'll be a snap. _He melted back into the shadows and set about locating a rout to the one of the unloading areas behind one of the major department stores. Even as he congratulated himself on devising a solid enough plan so far, he felt the weight of the gun against his lower back and gulped.

X)O(X

The group of adolescents threaded their way through the crowd. Apparently they weren't the only ones seeking refuge from the outdoor inferno. A dull roar filled the air around them; the sound of hundreds of people chattering in an enclosed area. The two girls seemed perfectly content to remain silent. Virgil felt the silence becoming rather oppressing. "I didn't know you liked comics."

Frieda exchanged a nostalgic grin with Tess. "Tess was the comic buff. When we were little, we used to act out scenes from our favorites."

"You ever read Plantman?" Richie asked Tess.

Tess mentally scanned the titles that had lined her bookshelf. Finally she shook her head. "No... More Barker and Innovation. Child's Play adaption and stuff..."

"Oh, man, remember that one with the teddy bear that was so obviously a Freddy reference?" Frieda laughed.

"That was weird... What was..." Tess placed her pointer finger on her chin and studied some point between her eyes and her shoes. "Yes. Four: Lumpy Luanne and Lenny." She giggled, remembering how much that particular issue had sucked. However, as with many of the generic horror movies she watched, it was brilliant because it sucked.

Richie wasn't exactly sure what the two girls were talking about, but he hadn't known that Frieda was a horror movie fan, either. She'd refused to go see Texas Chainsaw Massacre with them. When they hung out with her and Daisy, she seconded Daisy's protests against such movies without fail. They hadn't been acquainted with Frieda for that long in the grand scheme of things, but he'd thought it had been long enough to know her just about inside out. "There are Child's Play comics?"

"There're comics for just about all of the popular slasher flicks. They're old, so they're hard to find..." Frieda shrugged. "Oh, man, you know what really sucked? There were supposed to be three issues for Nightmare on Elm Street: The Beginning, but the third issue was supposedly never made. Now we'll never know what was supposed to happen..."

The right corner of Tess' mouth lifted in a crooked smile. "Use your imagination." Her hand left its hiding place for the first time since they'd entered the mall to flick Frieda in the forehead.

"Hey, that hurt!" Frieda protested.

"Suck it up," Tess grinned.

Frieda gave Tess a solid shove on the shoulder. The black fabric hardly even felt warm. "I know you do," she smirked. It was only fake aggression, after all.

Tess was laughing as she stumbled against the two boys striding through the crowd. The taller of the two scowled at the group from the shadow of his red hood. Gray locked with green as Tess stopped walking and stared up at him. His blue hooded companion stopped and turned around, brown eyes darting from one to the other. Tess stood her ground, gazing up blankly, as the green eyes narrowed and began to glow.

"We gotta go, man," Shiv interrupted in a low voice. This was hardly the place or the time for a brawl.

Hotstreak frowned and moved on slowly. He didn't break eye contact until the crowd merged between them and cut off his line of sight. "Fuck," he muttered and glared at the ground.

Shiv tried to remain positive. Shiv always tried to remain positive. "Chill your beans. Business before destructive rampages."

Hotstreak only muttered some more obscenities as they took up their positions across from the jewelry store.

Tess' sweatshirt pulled tight across her chest as a hand jerked on the back of it. She turned lazily to meet Frieda's concerned eyes. This puzzled her if nothing else. "What?" Frieda gripped Tess' upper arms and implored her serious attention.

"There's a lot of gang activity in Dakota, remember?" Frieda explained. Tess sent her another crooked smile, this one touched with sardonic amusement. Her expression clearly said, 'Yeah. And what of it?' Frieda sighed and shook her head. "Just be careful."

"Is everything alright?" Virgil asked, standing in the doorway of Super Comics and Games.

"Peachy," Tess grinned. Her fingers closed around Frieda's wrist and she dragged her excitedly into the store.

Richie had stood off to the side, inspecting the faces of the two thugs. His super-genius had brain kicked into gear and began processing the vaguely familiar faces. He followed the girls into the store on autopilot, contemplating the information his neurons were firing at him. Once inside, he strolled casually to the rack of new releases and began to browse as he whispered, "V, we may have a problem."

Virgil didn't like the tone in Richie's voice at all. "Please don't tell me it's a meta problem."

Richie bit his lip. "Those two back there? That was Shiv and Hotstreak."

Virgil groaned and fell back against the wall. Dull pain heralded his skull's connection with the plaster but he was too frustrated to care. Why did they have to be everywhere? He hadn't expected being a super-hero to be easy, not by a long shot, but this was just ridiculous. "I told you not to tell me."

Richie shrugged sheepishly. "Sorry, bro. It's my sworn duty." Success! He plucked the latest issue of Spider-Man off the rack and grinned like he'd just found buried treasure. It was a new series, currently at a mere five issues. Supposedly, it was based on a true story, in New York. Richie didn't entirely doubt it. New York was a veritable mental ward.

"To royally screw up my day?" The two best friends looked at each other. Virgil smiled and shook his head. "What am I supposed to do about it, anyway? I don't even have my costume-" Virgil's heart made a mad dash for his throat as the two girls appeared beside Richie.

"Found a good one?" Frieda smiled at the blond boy.

"Only the greatest since-" Richie's enthusiasm melted into confusion and mild annoyance as Tess wordlessly snatched the thin paper book out of his hand. He didn't speak but he shot a look at Frieda. The auburn-haired girl put out her hands (palms up at shoulder level) and responded with a helpless, if not amused, look.

Tess flipped through the curiosity without any particular expression on her face. The colors were garishly bright compared to the comics she usually read, and the witty snips were considerably less morbid. It appeared to be something about a half spider, half human creature from planet Arachna. Despite this, the gaudy red and blue tights were unmistakable. "Something to be said for creative liberties. It's all wrong..." She snickered, eyes flicking to Richie. "Two years I lived in New York..." She flipped the comic closed and presented it to Richie. Her eyes wandered to the horror section and lit up. "Oh! Squee bunnies!" She rushed over to the shelf.

Richie followed her curiously, waving the comic book slightly as he spoke. "So all this _is_ real?"

Virgil turned to Frieda, trying to forget there were two meta-humans somewhere in the mall doing who knows what... "So where'd you manage to pick her up?"

"I know, I know," Frieda sighed at the undertone of Virgil's voice. "But she's really great once you get to know her. She just..." Frieda searched for the right words. "She doesn't function on the same plain."

Frieda was smiling like she'd just made a joke but Virgil wasn't sure what it meant. "Where _did_ you meet?"

"We went to the same elementary school," Frieda shrugged. "The kids weren't very nice to her, I took her under my wing, nothing exactly dramatic. She's been like a sister to me. She almost _was_ my sister, once, but... Things got in the way..."

"So why haven't you ever mentioned her before?" Virgil was genuinely curious, but he also wanted to gather all of the information he could in case Tess went loco on the city like most of the other meta-humans.

Frieda sighed and shook her head. "It's really complicated, Virgil... I'm not even sure I understand all of it."

While this was going on, Richie was questioning Tess, not out of any need to know the potential enemy, but because the prospect of Spider-Man being really real was intriguing. "Seriously, is there a Spider-Man?"

Tess glanced up from the demons and vampires dancing across the pages in her hands. "Not like that." She nodded at the comic in Richie's hands. Three dark shapes loomed behind the boy, but he couldn't notice them. They strode past the two teenagers, the center one passing straight through Tess and Richie. The strange hunger inside her intensified and she threw a look over her shoulder to follow the shapes across the crowded mall. Something was going down. Something was...

"Not like how, exactly?"

Tess turned back to him. "I wonder, always... What makes it happen, you know? Similar factors amount to such different events. You know?"

"... You lost me."

Tess shook her head and forced herself to focus. When they had passed through her, it seemed to have cleared her head somewhat, so it was easier. "People just... by a twist of fate, a conscious choice, whatever... fall backwards into these powers, right?" She nodded at the comic in Richie's hands again. "What decides what they do? A person could be parentless and lash out against the world. A different person could be parentless and strives so it won't happen to anyone else. What decides that?"

Richie shrugged. "I'm sure there are more factors than that to consider. There's education, peer group... all kinds of thing, really."

An image of a face, of eyes hidden behind dark glasses (the kind that clip on the bridge of the nose), bubbled up into her head. There wasn't a sick grin on it or anything. That face was entirely human and entirely... not human. It was cold and hard as the glasses. Its lips were set with concentration, and that was it. It was the most terrible face Tess had ever laid eyes upon.

'_Hm... Go to level five._'

'_...Level five, sir?_'

'_Don't question me, insolent fool. Just do as I say._'

Tess gulped and hugged herself, shrinking into her hoodie. Richie frowned and tilted his head, attempting a clearer look at her face. "Tess?"

"You're right," she whispered, her eyes down and to the left. "You're right... Intellect... It's horrible..."

Richie's eyebrows jumped up. That hadn't been the point he'd been trying to make. In fact, that was the opposite of the point he'd been trying to make. No lies, his inner genius felt a bit persecuted, but he figured what kept him separate from people like Ebon and Hotstreak was that he tried not to let persecution miff him too much. "Well... Not always..."

Tess shrugged, snapping back quickly. "Frifri! Hey, Frifri!"

Tess was bouncing slightly, wildly gesturing her over. Frieda grinned at Virgil. "She beckons."

"What did you say was wrong with her?" Virgil grinned back.

Frieda rolled her eyes. "Perhaps you need to see you and Richie from a third person perspective sometime." As she drew closer to the other two her vision drifted to the vampire comic. "What is it?"

"It's Barker," Tess beamed. "He's still..." There was that twinge of desire again. Tess searched the immediate area for its source. Another dark shape padded out from behind the counter. Like the vaguely human shapes before, this one possessed no definite features, but it slunk along on all fours. Its head turned on its long neck, appearing to give her a once over before it followed the path of the three before it.

_Tesssseract..._

Her fingers went limp and the comic ruffled to the floor. Tess didn't notice Frieda pick it up. There was going to be an event. Everything else was just background noise, now, because there was going to be an event. Something like a trail of negative space threaded through and around the bustling crowd. The sweat scent of vanilla and rot and iron caressed her skin.

"Tess!" Frieda tried a third time, waving her hand in front of the girl's face.

Tess blinked. "I... Let's go that way..." She pointed in the direction the trail went.

"You want to got to the jewelry store?" Richie groaned.

_Is that what that is?_ "Yes... jewelry store..." Tess grinned and wiggled her fingers so that her rings flashed. "Gotta love shiny things, right?"

That's when the screams started.

Virgil instinctively jumped between Frieda and Richie and where he though the sound had come from. Before he could remember he didn't have his costume, he found himself automatically seeking a place to change.

"What's going on?" Frieda asked fearfully.

Tess shot a look at Frieda. Frieda was safe there. The probability that the boys would let Frieda follow her was low. She didn't care if the boys followed her or not. If they found themselves in danger too, good. More energy. Without warning, Tess was off like shot, following a dark trail that was visible only to her.

"Tess!" Frieda shouldered between Virgil and Richie, preparing to follow. "You can't!"

Tess ignored her. All that mattered was the hunger, the desire. It pumped adrenaline into her and pulled her through the surging masses. There was fear around her. It felt good, but it wasn't fear she could feed off of yet. She had to get to the source, the center of swiftly spreading chaos.

"Stay back," Virgil urged Frieda. She thrashed against him. He hadn't realized she was this strong before.

"You don't understand!" Frieda protested and struggled. "She'll... she'll..." Though she wasn't one hundred percent sure of the technical inner workings of Tess' powers, she knew that bad things seemed to happen around her. Never had Tess come out hurt, but there was a first time for everything.

Virgil dodged in front of Frieda and held her shoulders in a grip that was firm, yet gentle. He stared seriously into her eyes to make sure she was listening. "I'll get her. You stay with Richie and try to get out." The teenage hero wasn't exactly sure what he'd do about Hotstreak and Shiv without his costume, but he wasn't about to stand by and do nothing. It just wasn't his style. His hero instincts wouldn't let him.

_She won't come to you_. Frieda nodded her acquiescence. "Okay." Virgil went one way and Richie began leading her to the nearest exit. It was touching that they cared about her, and too bad that this wasn't what she wanted now. "Sorry," she muttered as she spotted and opening in the mob.

Richie barely heard the word over the din. He turned to ask her what she meant just in time to see the sea of bodies pressing them apart. Then again, Frieda wasn't exactly trying to get back to him, either. He sighed and tried to follow her.

X)O(X

The crawl through the vents was long and dusty. Each new movement stirred up tiny whirlwinds that made Ferret start sneezing so hard he thought he'd never stop. He eventually managed to coordinate his movements with his breathing and such incidents were mostly avoided. The vents were smaller than he had expected, and icy wind was blowing through them. Then again, if it was going to be a simple task, Ebon wouldn't have bothered with it. Finally, after an eternity in the dark, echoing shaft, Ferret peered through a grate and laid eyes on his goal. He scanned the shining glass cases, awed by the way their contents glittered in the display light. Rolling on a diagonal in the cramped tunnel, he slid the gun gingerly out of his pants and unwrapped it. All the while, his eyes roamed the sea of light, seeking the target of this particular mission. Then, plain as day, there it was, winking coyly at him. There weren't any cops immediately beside it, but that didn't mean there weren't some somewhere. Ferret sniffed for the bacon as he slid the green cloth into his pocket. It would have been easier if he had known the exact scent for which he was searching, but he settled for smelling out their guns, if they carried any. The guns were what mattered, after all. There only seemed to be one in the immediate vicinity, somewhere below him. Ferret wriggled around in the shaft so he could place his feet against the screen. Keeping the gun aimed carefully away from himself, he flicked off the safety catch. At the same time, he braced his back and kicked forward with all his strength. He let his momentum carry him into the air and whipped around to aim the gun at the mall piggy. He landed gracefully on his feet, like a cat. Sure enough, the shocked security guard was right in his sights. "Hands up!" He commanded the cop. "Everyone else, down, now!"

That's when the screams started.

Ferret approached the man in uniform, glaring in what he hoped was an intimidating fashion. Keeping the gun carefully leveled at the terror stricken face, the rodent Bang Baby nicked the gun from the holster and backed away slowly. Once he was sure he was the only one in the room with a gun... Well, two guns now, he went to smash the case he wanted with the butt of the stolen gun. Even though he struck it with all his might, the glass only cracked. Ferret bared his teeth in a snarl.

"I-it's r-r-reinf-forced..." The owner stammered, daring a peek over his counter.

_Of course it is_, Ferret growled to himself. _Why did I think this would be easy?_ He jerked the gun at the snobby looking man. "Then get your ass over here and unlock it." Hell, Hotstreak was intimidating when he cursed... The owner started to get up. "Hey! Keep your hands where I can see 'em!" Shouting seemed to help Hotstreak, too. Then again, Hotstreak's voice was rough and intimidating. Even Shiv's, high like it was, had just enough of a psychotic edge to it cause pause. Ferret's voice? Well, when shouting, Ferret merely sounded like his namesake, or at least a miffed squirrel. Hell, he pretty closely resembled a miffed squirrel at the moment, but this was one moment where he couldn't let himself think about this. He looked like a mutant, like a Bang Baby, and people feared Bang Babies. Let them fear him. Leave them ignorant to the fact that his powers involved little else than sniffing and running.

"E-easy, man. Just getting the k-keys..." Indeed, the keys were jingling in his right hand. The owner slowly brought his hands up from under the counter, where he had pressed a silent alarm with his left hand. At this moment, he knew, reinforcements were on the way. All he had to do was keep the deformed monster distracted long enough for them to get here. That wouldn't be long. He made his way through the little swinging door and approached the case in as non-threatening a manner as possible. This was the point at which Tess arrived.

Tess took in the scene, automatically recognizing the super-villain that had accosted her in the alley. He held two guns in trembling hands. In fact, he was trembling slightly all over and there was desperation in his eyes. He was a bundle of nerves, hardly in control. Control was the most important thing in these situations. Never lose control. Two of the dark shapes were flanking the quivering genetic anomaly. The four-legged one stretched on the counter and rolled on its back. It's scythe tipped tail flicked. Where was the third? Someone grabbed her from behind.

Tess turned slowly to gaze into Virgil's eyes. The calm in her silver orbs was absolute, and yet there was an undertone of barely contained... lust was it? Not sexual lust, though. It was more like... a hungry lust, a starving lust. "We have to go," he whispered. Tess blinked slowly and turned away from him, pushing toward the armed Bang Baby. Someone grabbed Virgil from behind. He whipped around to find Frieda.

"Tess," Frieda hissed, grabbing for her sweatshirt. "Tess, we have to go!"

_Frieda? _Tess froze but didn't turn around. _Frieda, no!_ She spied the red and blue hooded males backing away and whispering to each other. Blue Hood was pointing. Tess tried to follow his finger. Then everything blew up.

Ferret smelled the other guns approaching before the shouts rang out. He closed his eyes and sighed, trying to center his frazzled nerves. _So it comes down to this..._ His eyes sought out the other two. They were whispering to each other, melting into the background without giving him a second glance. Yes. It came down to this. His finger tightened on the trigger and he pulled in a balancing breath. He could do this. _I'm fast, I'm steady. It's just like... Shooting clay pigeons, only larger and closer... And with more blood and screaming involved..._

"FREEZE!"

"DROP YOUR WEAPONS!"

There was the third shape. It circled the armed man, running its fingers over his face and neck. Then Tess knew, and she began working her way in that direction. One eye remained on the super-villain. He didn't even remain still for a millisecond. Before the condemned man could even finish his command, the gun was trained on him. The BANG filled the mall along with more screams. Time slowed to a crawl as the mall-cop spasmed, his mouth an 'o' of shock. The other security guard opened fire, too. Tess sucked in a deep breath, almost aroused by the sight and scent of blood. Her hands latched under the cop's armpits as he fell.

Pain enveloped his world but he was in too much shock to cry out. He'd never known what to expect if he was ever shot. Maybe he'd expected to see his life flash before his eyes. Maybe he'd expected a bright, comforting light. There was too much shock to feel much of anything, though. His heart thundered, each life giving beat bringing him closer to death. It didn't know that, though. It just did the best it could, and... The ceiling reeled into his vision as he keeled over backwards. There was sudden pressure under his armpits and he felt himself being lowered to the floor. A black hooded figure with a white face leaned over him. At first, in his disorientation, he thought it was Death. No, no, it was a teenage girl. She removed the black coverings on her hands and placed them on either side of his head. He grabbed her wrist with an unsteady, bloody hand. "... help..." He managed to gasp out. "... hel..." A breathy shushing noise escaped her lips and her eye slipped closed in a long, lazy blink. Then he was aware of a sharp, pins and needle sensation sweeping upwards from his feet. He sucked in a long, gurgling breath as her eyes slid back open. They had been replaced with two dark holes. There was a torrent of shadowy things swirling and dipping chaotically through the dark, like blackbirds caught in a hurricane. There were screams, too, far away, beyond the darkness. They were horrified screams, tortured screams, hopeless screams. There was a feeling like hooks ripping through his intestines, dredging out his soul, and he screamed. The black void sucked him in and he screamed. Hideous, rented faces, twisted and stretched by nails and wire, swam around him, and he screamed.

Tess moaned, feeling his death slide through her. Power tingled along the metal lines in her back and sent pins and needles chasing across her tattooed palms. She could do more than just sense the chaos around her, now. She could feel it, touch it, like a tangible thing. Tess rose slowly to her feet, still shaking from the rush of a new absorption. The super-villain was firing from behind the counter, now. The cashier went down and Tess could feel his life leave his body, too. She grabbed it; sucked him in kicking and screaming. Another deadly gunshot rang through the room.

Frieda grabbed Tess and looked over her shoulder at the downed man in the nice suit. "Is he..."

Tess raised her eyes, lowered her hood, and looked over her shoulder at Frieda. There was a rye smile twinkling in the soft silver depths. "Pre-dressed for his funeral."

The other teen girl giggled nervously. "Okay. Okay. Let's just go before-"

"You get hurt," Tess finished. She turned, placed a hand on her friend's back, and made to guide her away. Two shots distracted them both.

Ferret couldn't allow himself time to think about it. If he stopped to think, he feared he might lose it, like Shiv. He could turn into Shiv later, but for now he had to remain in control. He vaulted over the counter with one hand and made a smooth beeline for the target case. He fired at it twice and then kicked it over. The battered glass, even if it was reinforced, couldn't take the strain and finally shattered. Ferret snatched up his prize and set about finding a way out. For some reason, Static had yet to arrive. Good, but there was still only limited ammo in the guns. He had to haul ass before more piggies showed up. There were two girls standing near the cashier's body. One seemed more curious about the loud explosions. The other clung to the calm one as though her life depended on it. Perhaps it did, too. The girl in black smelled familiar, but he could also smell more troublesome things approaching. He aimed the gun at the girl in pink. "You," he hissed. "Step away and come here." Would he have the courage to kill her later? If he had too? Better to cross that bridge when it was reached.

_Frieda..._ Tess scowled and pushed Frieda further behind her. She'd take a bullet for Frieda. A bullet would have been about... how had that scale worked... level four? Level five?

The sight of Ferret with the gun had thrown him off, and then the three bodies... Because he didn't have is costume, right? It was his fault. Heros couldn't take breaks. He should have known that... Virgil held his breath. Most of the people had fled. To use his powers now would be a dead give away. That and the guns were more disturbing than they probably should have been to a super-hero. But he didn't come up against guns that often! When he did... Guns meant dead mothers... Guns meant street fights and explosions... Guns meant screaming Richie in the back of an ambulance... Where was Richie? Richie would've had an idea.

Ferret's finger wavered on the trigger. Would the dark-haired one move? No. Something about her smell reminded him of something and that part of him told her she wasn't likely to move. "Move away!" He commanded again.

"Tess," Frieda whimpered. Tess gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. Frieda quivered. She could almost tell what Tess was thinking. If Ferret made one wrong move, Tess would let him have it. Frieda didn't know what she would let him have, but it wouldn't be pretty.

Ferret shot a quick glance at the other two metas. They watched the scene from across the way. Hotstreak whispered to Shiv and Shiv chuckled. Ferret snarled. He would do it. He'd give her to the count of three and just _do _it. "You have three seconds! One..."

Tess felt the familiar cold fire crawl up her back and down her arms, filling every piece of metal in or on her body.

"Two..."

Frieda felt Tess' rings burning her skin and winced wordlessly. _Don't use the chains, Tess. It's too obvious. Don't do it..._

"Three." Ferret squeezed the trigger, the resulting boom echoed, his feet left him, and he began to fall. There was no mistaking the lurch of gravity turned against him. Objects and other people around him began to fall, too, but they weren't falling down. He wasn't falling down. He was falling _backwards_, into the wall behind him. When he struck, his back popped and he made an 'oofing' sound. He barely recovered in time to dodge a falling display case. Glass shattered around him, piercing and slicing his exposed flesh. That didn't matter. He had his prize. He dragged himself across the wall and dropped into the hole. He scrambled away the way he had come in, leaving the guns behind. He was sick of them for the time being.

X)O(X

FATR: Well, the body count rose significantly in this chapter. /giggles/ Now, here's to the reviewers...

**LadyKayoss**: How nice of you to join me over here! Two thirds of the reason I put the Otto bit in now was for you, so I hope you enjoyed it. All week on Cartoon Network at 6:30 p.m., Static Shock is on, as it is on Saturday and Sunday at 8 and 8:30 in the morning. On Tuesday (June 7) there's going to be a Static Shock marathon starting at 11:30 a.m. Make it a familiar fandom, huh/wink/ See you next chip chip, I hope. Oh, and here's your hug /hug/

**benny2000**/laughs/ Your welcome for the hug. So, I kept my promise. What do you think/hug/ See you next chip chip, I hope.

**Glamek Stalker**: I read your story. Sorry I didn't review, I was being a lazy-ass that day. I honestly think it's your best piece of writing so far. I really do, I'm not just saying that. True, it was long, but so was this. There's nothing wrong with long chip chips, and there's nothing wrong with long reviews. Shiv's dream was based off a dream I had, only I think it was Batman and me wearing the head lamps. And, in case you didn't see this coming, here's your hug, too. /hug/

**lt. commander richie**/laughs/ Yes, I did. Thankies very much. Here's your hug. /hug/

**moonjava**: As I told **Glamek Stalker** there's nothing wrong with long reviews, I'll tell you there's nothing wrong with short reviews. You could just type 'good' or even just 'hi' if you like. I just like to know people are reading. You seem to review just about all of the stories you read. That's admirable. I only end up reviewing about half of the stories I read. Hugs for you too! Hugs all around/hugs/

Don't forget to tell me what you think of the rating. Should I raise it? Penguin Peaces!


	7. Getting Out

FATR: Holy shizola, this chip chip was hard to write! I've been tweaking and adding and subtracting, and… Then I started to post it and changed my mind because it seemed to cut off in the middle of something. That last chip chip really took a lot out of me. Then I was assaulted by a plot bunny that hit me over the head and demanded that I write a one-shot. I said, "No, please, I have three long stories I need to finish!" Then the bunny threatened to kill me and… well, then it abandoned me on page seven of said one-shot. ANY-hoo, that's inconsequential. Well, I finally added the last segment, which I think rounds it up nicely. That and if I don't do this now, I may never get around to updating. You can read the disclaimer in various forms at the beginning of all preceding chip chips. Here's this chip chip. Enjoy.

X)O(X

The door flew open and Otto strode into the corridor as though his presence there was perfectly normal and perfectly acceptable. The frozen faces, the clip boards clattering to the ground, and the soft gasps of horror swiftly dispelled that illusion. Terrified faces gaped at the bloody apparition. Some mouths opened and closed soundlessly like beached fish. Hands and knees trembled as the black glasses swept over the crowd. Aside from the restless winding and unwinding of Otto tentacles, there was no movement for an eon.

A scream of untraceable origin broke the silence and one of the personnel who wasn't too shocked to think lunged for the emergency alarm. Dr. Octopus' tentacles were in motion even before his head whipped around to visually acknowledge the threat. This amazing reaction time would have fascinated Pym under other circumstances, but as the situation stood, it only horrified him. The two snakes coiled around the brave woman's legs and yanked, effortlessly rending her in two like a wishbone. Her innards splatter the floor in a steaming wet pile and blood fanned across the wall, its metallic stench tainting the atmosphere.

The other tentacle, the one binding Pym, pressed it razor claws to the fragile throat of its captive. "If anyone else decides to be a hero, I will kill this man and all others who stand in my way," Otto stated icily. That voice expelled all doubt regarding the genuine nature of the threat. The crowd receded slowly. Otto stepped forward and the onlookers retreated further, parting before him like the Red Sea. He couldn't help imagining the red sea that would flood the compound if he chose to spill all of their blood, but there were more pressing matters at hand. He couldn't waste his time here if it wasn't necessary. Remaining perfectly calm, Otto moved away from the small crowd of onlookers and the steadily spreading pool of blood. He spoke without even glancing at his hostage. "If you would provide me with directions to the records room…"

Pym was stunned by the complete lack of regard for the lives that had just been lost, and all in less than ten minutes. "You just killed five people! How can you-" He cried out in pain when one of free tentacles undulated up and dug its claws into the back of his neck.

"The record's room, doctor," Otto growled, stopping to glare. The word 'doctor' was dripping with venomous sarcasm.

Pym felt warm blood trickling down the back of his neck. He squinched his eyes shut and tilted his head back, struggling to fight through the agony and think. "Next floor," He gasped. "Second… gh… second left… agh… end of hall way…"

Otto smirked at the torture contorting the other man's face. He hadn't seen another person twitch like that since Tesseract… The claws twisted slightly. "And the elevator?"

Pym was mentally pleading for the madman to stop, but he couldn't get words out through his clenched teeth. He couldn't cry in front of this psycho, and he wouldn't let himself, even though tears scrambled at the backs of his eyelids. "St…straight, on right…" He slumped forward in the other tentacle's grip as the claws extracted from his neck and returned to hover restlessly just over Dr. Octopus' shoulder. Pym gasped heavily, barely aware that they had begun moving again.

X)O(X

Frieda screamed over the din as her and Tess pitched forward as well. Tess latched an arm around her waist and the air in front of Frieda's face seemed to flicker. Before she could really think about it, though, the floor was lurching out from under them as they tumbled into space. However, Tess and Frieda were falling at a slight angle to the rest of unfortunate bystanders, heading for the corner made by the back and opposite walls.

"Hold on," Tess whispered, "tight... and close your eyes."

Frieda bit her lip and did as she was told, anticipating what was coming. She wondered if she would feel the impact first, or if Tess had better control of her powers now. She'd changed the gravity of the room in two different places at once this time, after all. Perhaps her ordeal in New York had been useful despite all the bad things Tess wouldn't share.

Frieda turned and squeezed Tess in a death hug. Tess, still gripping Frieda with one arm, stuck out her free hand. The tattoo on her palm tingled and the back wall seemed to shudder. Fortunately, the general noise and confusion distracted most of the potential observers from what happened next. Tess wrapped both arms around Frieda and rolled into the warping and twisting wall.

A strange cold ghosted over Frieda's bare skin as all sense of direction retreated. At first she felt as though her flesh, her bones, her very organs, were blossoming outwards and pealing away from her. It was an odd sensation. She knew the pain should be intolerable, but all she could feel was a strange tingling all over her body, like when a limb falls asleep. The blossoming continued down into her soul, flinging it open and spreading it across an indeterminable space. Then she smelled a sickly sweet mixture of aromas. There was blood, a metal she couldn't name, sweat, urine, but all of this was undermined by the soft, sugary perfume of vanilla. Presently, horrible moaning that covered the entire spectrum between pain and pleasure punctured her mind with its claws. What was it? Where were...

"Do not open them," Tess was murmuring in her ear over and over again. "Keep them closed. Do not open..."

Frieda gripped the sweatshirt-clad figure harder and forced herself not to look at the things that felt like wet birds flapping against and clawing at her. Again, she was sure it should hurt, but all she felt was pins and needles. She had a feeling the only thing orienting her in this mad place was Tess, so she focused on Tess' voice and ignored all else until she felt herself closing up again. Her soul pulled back inside of her and the horrible sensations faded as her body closed back over it, a shield of flesh. The pain of the impact she felt next was welcome in its normality. Tess' body slid away from her and Frieda dared to peek through one eye. Bright light burned her retina and she winced, opening her other eye more carefully. She shifted to her knees, dazed in the midday sun. They were sitting on the blacktop in some external recess of the mall. The wall nearest them shuddered again and turned right-side-out once more.

"You okay?"

Frieda met Tess' concerned stare. Tess sat cross-legged with her wrists on her knees, hunching toward Frieda. Frieda ran her fingers through her hair and took a breath. "I've... been better." She shrugged and noticed Tess gazing sorrowfully at her arm. Hazel eyes moved to take in the five small burns. A tattooed hand took her arm gently. Apparently Tess had lost her gloves at some point, which meant she would need new ones later...

"I never wanted you hurt..." Tess mumbled.

"It's fine, really," Frieda protested.

"You should've stayed back..." Tess smiled at Frieda. "Guess I shouldn't've expected anything to stop you. I know you take care of yourself... for the most part... but I worry. You know that."

Frieda contemplated Tess. "Careful. People might think you love me or something."

Tess laughed and got to her feet, helping Frieda up after her. "Don't flatter yourself."

"Ouch," Frieda laughed and placed her hand over her heart. "That hurts right here, man, right here." Silence fluttered down once more as Tess began making her way out to the parking lot. Frieda bit her lip. "Tess?" Tess turned inquisitively but didn't speak. "Where... What the hell _was_ that place?"

Tess honestly contemplated filling her in on everything right then and there. It had certainly been long enough, and everything that was developing lately... Well, it wouldn't be safe to keep Frieda so in the dark, but part of her wasn't quite sure Frieda would understand, or worse, be revolted. Tess still couldn't tell why she cared what the other girl thought or felt, or why she was compelled to protect her from the horror of the world they had just passed through. No mortal could face it and remain sane. It would be like an ant looking out across the universe and suddenly realizing there was a vaster space beyond the vastness of the planet on which it dwelled. She settled for, "Exactly. What about... your friends?"

"Oh, man, Virgil! Richie! They must've seen us fall, and they'll have questions... We can't tell them the truth can we?" Frieda caught up with Tess and they stood side by side, thinking.

"Truth is overrated... Sure they saw?" Tess finally asked.

Frieda shook her head. "Even if they didn't see us fall, they'll still want to know how we got out."

Tess turned away from Frieda and stared at the ground. Her pupils dilated, filled with the dark chaos. "That's why dragging in other people is dangerous..." She muttered in a strangely cold voice. Tess blinked and shook her head. _No, hurting them would hurt Frieda. I can't do that to her, and besides, mortals believe almost anything they're told._ "Maybe," she said out loud, voice normal again, "we should go, buy some time, tell them later, work out our story." She looked down at the starlike design on her palm. "Kay's Mart?"

Frieda didn't want to make the two boys worry, but she didn't want to explain herself either. Waiting just seemed easier. It had been easier when it was just her and Tess, hadn't it? They had their fun, they snuck away, and there was no one asking them questions. "Kay's Mart went out of business. We could always try Bull's-Eye, or Price Mart. I think Price Mart's closer, so we wouldn't have to bother with a bus."

Tess blinked and shifted her weight to her other foot. "Kay's Mart? Out of business? I bought my first collar there!"

Frieda shrugged and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. "Nostalgia means nothing where money's concerned, I guess. At any rate, I suppose Price Mart is the order of the day?"

"You suppose correct." Tess and Frieda turned and strode off across the parking lot. In no time they were lost among the cars and heat waves. The vaguely familiar sound of sirens in the distance only pushed them on faster.

X)O(X

Otto slammed the door on the chaos that had begun to flood the compound and felt for the light switch. Alarms shoved daggers through his eardrums but he managed to tune them out somehow. The lights flickered for a moment before humming to life at full force. The silhouettes of bug carcasses dotted the insides of the large, rectangular lights. They were the kind that always seemed to house at least one dead insect. Otto surveyed the filing cabinets that stood like silent sentinels guarding the secrets they held with their lives. There were computers too, naturally, but the biochemist knew it was important to have at least two back ups of whatever one saved on a computer. Technology had advanced immensely, but a computer was still a computer.

Otto had two main objectives in this room. Ignoring the weak whimpers and struggles of his hostage arrogantly, the tentacled genius situated himself in the computer chair. The squeak of the chair was swallowed up in the storm of sound, but somehow Otto managed to force himself to concentrate on the task at hand. Concentration was the key to control. The former scientist's fingers flew over the keys at an almost super-human speed.

Pym watched through a red and black fog, wondering when reinforcements would arrive. The water seemed way over his head at this point. He'd never been a hostage before, and, oh, god, the absolute agony! Oh, sure, he'd interacted with supers before, but never like this! He was helpless, cocooned in adamantium with the effects blood loss setting in swiftly. Even breathing had become an arduous task somewhere along the way. Besides, what did Otto really think he was going to find? Pym wasn't exactly sure what Otto wanted, true, but he doubted the man could find anything about Nick Fury here. It was all hospital records, and there was no way he could ever get out once he had the information. Little did he know, though, that Otto had really just been looking for a computer. Pym had known Dr. Octavius to be a brilliant man in his field, genetic engineering, but apparently the man could also hack like a mad bastard. Several firewalls and pass codes later, Dr. Octopus was reading about an extremely top secret law, and had accessed the cities and dates for the president's press conferences on the subject.

Otto glared at what he was reading. It was just like the government to do a hypocritical thing like they had just done to him. The law hadn't passed yet—it hadn't even been released for public debate—but he doubted it would be much trouble to get it passed. There were, after all, certainly enough mutant haters. The question merely became how many mutant haters there were in Congress… And how many members of Congress would be willing to vote for it just to please their constituents. A sick grin slid across the doctor's face when he noticed the name of one of the cities listed on the tour. It wasn't a particularly large city, and mutant activity was relatively new there. All of the mutants there were apparently illegal by the government's standards. The city's name? Dakota. It was Tesseract's home. The girl had proven herself to be quite predictable and nostalgic over the two years he had been acquainted with her. He was sure he'd find her in Dakota, most likely established there through that Frieda girl she had always babbled about. Well, she hadn't always babbled about her, only in the beginning, before the experiments had become physical. She didn't speak to him or Osborn much at all after that. Truthfully he could've killed that guard for letting her slip through his fingers. That mattered little now, though, because he'd find her and drag her back. Hell, he'd kill Frieda and her whole family if that's what it would take to make Tesseract cooperate.

"Octopus!"

Otto paid the shouting outside the door just enough mind to ascertain that there was no immediate threat to his life yet. The main focus of his concentration centered on hunting down Frieda Goron's phone number, address, parents' names… anything he could sink his metal claws into, really.

"We know you're in there! Come out with your hands up! All of them!"

Otto growled low in his throat. Making jokes, were they? They wouldn't be laughing for long. Oh, no, by the time he was done with the people who had forced this affliction upon him, no one would be laughing. Otto calmly searched the drawers of the computer desk until he located the blank disks. Without a word, he inserted one in the drive and began burning all of the information he'd found.

Pym couldn't believe how calm and in control of himself Otto seemed. As a loud bang, preceded by a threat to break down the door, rang through the room, Otto finally turned to acknowledge the commotion at the door. The scowl on his face made Pym's blood run cold. Did they know this was a hostage situation? He remembered the feeling of those metal claws in the back of his neck and involuntarily wondered what it would feel like to have them tearing through his stomach. Thinking of the violence and heartless precision with which his peers had been dispatched made him ill.

Otto removed the disk from the drive, cased it, and pocketed it. Only once his objectives were complete did he address his surroundings. "You," he whispered calmly to Dr. Pym as he rose to his feet. "You inform them that I have you and I will _kill_ you if I am so provoked."

Pym was mentally frozen but the tentacle tightening around his chest and waist snapped him back to reality. A crimson claw hovered unnervingly close to his jugular vein, causing the three punctures in the back of his neck to burn and prickle. There was no way he wanted three matching ones in his throat. He gulped and called out in a shaky voice, "This… this is Dr. Pym…" Here his voice cracked and he had to stop for breath as two more claws closed in around him, the metal glittering threateningly through the patches of dried blood. The iron reek filled his lungs and made his stomach churn even more violently. His voice began to catch on the sobs that wanted to burst out of the lump in his throat. "Please," he called to the guards at the door. "Please don't make him kill me! Please!" Tears or sweat or both spilled down his face. To his relief the pounding stopped, but the tentacles didn't relax. They waved like cobras preparing to strike, close enough for Pym to see his terror widened eyes. In those reflected eyes he could see the claws, and in those reflected claws his eyes… It was a succession of reflections fading into an eternity too small for him to see.

After a moment of silent contemplation, the voice returned only more cautious this time. "What do you want, Dr. Octavius?"

Otto smirked at the change of tone and address. "Tell them," he instructed Pym, "to put their weapons down and back away ten steps."

"H-how will you know if…"

"You are going out there to tell them." Before Pym could respond, Otto had opened the door with one tentacle just enough to shove Pym through with the other. He kept a tight grip on his hostage with one tentacle while Pym delivered the instructions. Though the biochemist had never really been in any kind of hostage situation before, he felt almost unexpectedly calm. He knew if he killed Pym he'd have nothing left with which to bargain, and wistfully wished he'd taken one of the other doctors hostage as well. It was too late to turn back the clock now, but he knew the security forces gathered outside had no hope of ever challenging him intellectually. Even as he thought on this, another plan began to form.

Pym glanced breathlessly from one leveled gun to another. He'd never been on the business end of so many guns at once. It made him nervous, but not as nervous as the metal arm that still imprisoned him. The scene seemed to freeze forever, though it was probably only a few seconds before the armed men decided Dr. Octopus wasn't coming out and lowered their weapons a touch.

"Dr. Pym…" The one in charge stared at the quivering figure in the doorway. The shoulders of Pym's pristine white lab coat were dyed a shocking crimson that seemed to be spreading from the back of his neck. "Don't worry. We'll get you out of-"

"He wants you to put your weapons on the floor and take ten steps back," the unlucky hostage interrupted. When the guards hesitated, the constriction on his waist and chest increased again. "Just do it," Pym practically screamed. The guns all moved to the floor in a chorus of clunks and clatters. Once the weapons had been discarded and the gunmen had moved back the required number of steps, the tentacled terror made his appearance. He moved forward slowly, keeping his prisoner between him the gathered crowd. The impenetrable glasses scanned the gathering and his mouth was set in a tightlipped, analytical expression.

No one had really known what to expect, but the horror they felt subsequent to laying eyes upon melted mass of metal and flesh was all too evident. "Otto," the man in charge began. Before he could get the words out, the man he'd been about to try to talk down lashed out with the other three tentacles. That's when the leader found out he was not only one of four hostages, now, but a human shield to boot. Three needle sharp claws were pressed against his throat, leaving tiny drops of blood on his fear whitened skin.

Otto held the bodies tight around him in a circle. Even if he had to kill one of them to get out, the corpse could still protect him from bullets. He didn't even have to speak a word. People sidled away from him while he passed and closed back in behind him. An incredible sense of power and immortality surged through him like adrenaline for his ego. The sound of a gun being cocked was heard behind him, but he ignored it. They couldn't get a clear shot at him without hitting one of their men. He was invincible. He was extraordinary. In the end, they had to let him go.

X)O(X

Richie jumped up and down in the crowd, trying desperately to locate any of the other three teens. However, he wasn't particularly tall, and even though he was Gear, he wasn't particularly coordinated. The sounds of gunshots had made his heart skip several beats. None of the Bang Babies had ever used guns; not since receiving their powers. Did that mean Hostreak and Shiv were still in the mall somewhere else, using the distraction to get away with their own robbery? Or were they up to something? By the time Richie fought his way through the crowd surging against him, the gunshots and screaming had given way to crashing at screaming. Richie made it to the store front just in time to see everything in it go flying against the wall, including Ferret. Even people were tumbling head over heals, driven by the invisible force. He looked across the half circle formed by the onlookers and spied Virgil. Virgil's eyes were wide and there was a slight tremble running through his body. Richie knew his friend was terrified of guns, and he didn't blame him. The blond boy made his way around to Virgil and grabbed his shoulder. "Where are the girls?"

"Ferret shot at them… they fell…"

Richie let his eyes fall on the pile of debris against the wall. "What happened? Where are they?"

Virgil shook off his funk, calling on his strength as Static, and turned to his friend. "Tess did something, I'm sure of it." He searched the shattered wreckage with his eyes. If Tess had caused the avalanche then Tess must've gotten them out somehow. If Tess hadn't caused it? Well, the scenarios that possibility dredged up were scenarios Virgil refused to entertain. "I don't know what happened. I don't know where they are…"

X)O(X

Ferret gritted his teeth through the searing pain and dragged himself through the vent. There was a piece of glass in his arm that made him hiss every time he jarred it the wrong way and it felt like he might have a cracked bone somewhere in his leg. This limping crawl brought him into the stripy light of the entrance he had used. He was almost there, almost… His bloody hand slipped on the wall of the shaft and he fell flat, banging his chin on the floor. He groaned, rolled on his side, and put his hand to his face. The jewels dangling from the necklace tickled across his face, which was drenched in cold sweat due to his exertion. It occurred to him he wasn't sure where he was supposed to meet the other two. Should he wait in the alley or try to make his way back to the abandoned subway tunnel? He finally decided to wait in the alley for a while then sniff his way back to the station. Even if they had decided to leave him for dead, they were bound to stumble across him down there. Ferret set his jaw and dragged himself the last few feet down the tunnel. He shifted around in the vent (a difficult task with his injured arm) and kicked the grate out with his good leg. The drop to the ground wasn't that far, but landing on his bad leg, or climbing down with his wounded arm, would suck. His hard thundered against his ribs as he braced himself. Then he shoved himself into the sunlight and felt gravity take him for the third time in less than an hour.

Ferret hit the ground, fell on his good side, and rolled onto his back. It wasn't as painful as it could've been, but it still could've been smoother. At the sound of sirens he staggered to his feet and hobbled a few hurried steps before that familiar odor caught his nose. He looked around the corner and saw the two girls that he'd tried to take hostage weaving across the parking lot. They weren't speaking much. Ferret did have to wonder, however, what they were doing outside when they'd been inside bare moments ago. He didn't have time to contemplate it, though, because he had to locate shelter before the cops arrived. Ferret turned tail and scrambled madly across the parking lot, ducking behind cars and dodging around bushes, until he reached he alley. He felt the shadows brushing cool fingers over him and slumped against the wall, closing his eyes. The brick grabbed his shirt and pulled it up to scratch his back as he slid down, drifting somewhere in the limbo between sleep and wakefulness. He hadn't realized just how tired he was until the adrenaline began to wear off. His daze was torn off by fingers that suddenly dug into his bruised shoulder. Ferret yelped a mix of surprise and pain.

"Did you get it?" Hotstreak demanded, not the least bit affected by Ferret's yelp. The smaller meta-human looked up at him and wordlessly presented the glittering necklace. It caught a miniature beam of light, pulled it apart, and shot back a tiny cluster of rainbows.

"Shiny!" Shiv hopped up and down and clapped his hands. "Special!"

Hotstreak whacked Shiv on the back of the head. "Shut up, dipshit," he hissed. "The pigs'll be crawling all over the place, not to mention Static, and I ain't risking my ass against them for that little rat shit." He gestured at Ferret. When neither of his peers responded, Hotstreak whipped around and stomped off into the shadows.

X)O(X

FATR: Well, that's that, as it stands… I guess it's acceptable…

**aleeock**: I hear you've finally caught up with us. Good job!

**Ms. Manga: **I love Shiv and Hotstreak too, and I'm glad you like the way I'm portraying them. I was afraid Hotstreak seemed out of character, and I guess he kind of is, but if you like it that's all that matters. I appreciate your honesty about the Otto and Tess parts, too. Sorry there was more Otto that anything else here, but this chip chip has been a bitch from the beginning. Hope to see your review again this time.

**zizzy333:** Thankies. Sorry it took so long. Neato screen name too. I like "z" sounds…

**Glamek Stalker: **I love cartoon Otto's accent! Then again, I'm one of the legions of Otto fangirls, so… but, yes, Ultimate Otto is my favorite because he's just _so_ over the edge by volume ten. I mean, he abducts a plane to Brazil of all places and rips Peter's tooth out for no other reason then to be all sadistic and stuff… Man, I love him… Anyway, Alfred Molina played movie Otto. He was also in part of some Indiana Jones movie, that movie called Chocolate… I think he guest starred on Law and Order… any of those help? And, come on, if you share your blonde moment with my, I'll share… two of my "blonde moments," even though I'm not blonde so I don't get to use that excuse. I'm relieved you liked the part where Virgil couldn't do anything. I was afraid it wasn't realistic. Um… sorry about not so much Ferret here. There's a good chance he'll be in the next chapter, but I can't make any promises seeing as this story is starting to be a bitchy little bitch… ANY-hoo, I look forward to your review.

**TallieCat**: Hm… well, I'm glad you like Otto's appearance because it looks like he's going to insist on being in here a lot now that I've released him. He's such a proud little son-of-a-bitch. I love him to pieces. Anyway, thanks for your enthusiastic review, and I hope to see you review again.

**fang: **I'm not exactly sure what you mean. If this chip chip didn't answer what you asked, rephrase it a little and I'll do my best. Thank you for reviewing. Please come again.

**LadyKayoss: **Oh, yes. Naked ultimate Otto. It makes me grin like the little fangirl I am. In the beginning of Ultimate Spider-Man Volume 3 he _was_ completely naked except for a strategically placed sheet in one of the panels, and he spends, like, ten pages shirtless. It frustrates me that they cancelled Static Shock. I don't know if you got the chance to see any of the episodes or not. Otto's bugging me to let him play a larger roll in this though, so I have to let him. You know how he gets…

**crashfourit:** Glad you like it. This chip chip was a long time coming. I hope you review again.

**Moonjava: **I'm glad we could reach an understanding. I think I'm going to keep pushing my luck with the rating, though. People over here seem a little more tolerant than those on the spider-man section.

Penguin Peace to you all and don't be afraid to speak your mind!


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